Battle Royale
by Mikila94
Summary: AU: This is One Piece version of the bloody story called Battle Royale. Do you have what it takes to enter this world of violence, betrayal, sorrow, horror and possibly even love?
1. Proloque

**A.N: So here it is; One Piece version of Battle Royale. I don't know how well I'd be able to explain about Battle Royale, so if you want to know more check it from Wikipedia or something. **

**Warnings: This is Battle Royale, so there will be violence, blood, some mature things, character deaths and Doflamingo. You have been warned.**

**Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda, Battle Royale to Kõshu Takami.**

**Prologue**

Eight hundred years ago the Great War ended. As a result of this war, the powerful country by the name of World Government became completely isolated from the rest of the world. Ever since that day leaving and arriving to the state of World Government has been extremely hard, and less than five percent of its people have been outside the said country.

Twenty two years ago, a man by the name of Gol D. Roger was acknowledged as a serious threat by the government. To defeat him and his followers, the government created a game called "The Program" few years later. In it people killed each other until only one survived. It was originally created to kill Roger and his friends, so they had been the first participants. After that it had been going on once a year as an example for other people. The way the government chose their victims was completely random: sometimes it was the people working in one company, sometimes the students of a certain school and once even an entire village. This is a story about the students of a certain high school that's been chosen to participate.

Whiskey Peak high school was a small one, having only sixty one students. Nobody knew it yet, but on the faithful day the program would start, one of them would be sick and four of them would be skipping school that day. These five certainly were the lucky ones.

"Oi Luffy, wait up!" yelled Roronoa Zoro (boy number 18), the captain of the kendo club. As long as there were more than two members, the little groups were allowed to be called clubs in their school.

"Hurry up Zoro! I won't come to get you if you get lost!" Monkey D. Luffy (boy number 7) yelled as they ran across the school yard.

"_They're at it again... goofing around like there was no care in the world" _thought Trafalgar Law (boy number 12) as he watched the two of them from the window of the chemistry class.

"Is something wrong, Law-san?" asked Tony Tony Chopper (boy number 3) from the table.

"No" Law said, turning to his friend from the science club "Let's just focus to the project."

XXXXX

"Kohza that tickles" said orange haired girl called Nami (girl number 12) as her boyfriend kissed her neck. They were on the roof of the school, having decided to spend some time alone before they went to their homes.

"That's what you get from being so ticklish" Kohza (boy number 21) told back, making his girlfriend laugh.

"We should probably go; someone might see us" he added, but Nami just rolled her eyes.

"So?" she asked "I'm sure the whole school knows by now that we're a couple."

"Yeah, since the whole second year walked in when we were making out in the classroom- ow!" Kohza cried as Nami pulled his ear.

"Don't remind me" she said, glaring at him playfully "Nojiko still keeps reminding me about it."

XXXXX

Blond haired boy with the name Sabo (boy number 19) stood behind a bookshelf, reading a book about navigation. However, it was easy to notice how he kept stealing glances at the nearby table where a black haired woman, Nico Robin (girl number 4), was reading.

"_C'mon Sabo, just go there and say hi, it's not that hard!" _the blonde told himself, glancing at the girl again. She seemed to be deep in thought as she turned a page after another.

"What're you doing, brother?" Sabo nearly jumped, not being able to believe that his little brother had managed to sneak up on him.

"Nothing, Stelly" Sabo said back, putting the book to its place "Let's go."

The orange haired boy, Stelly (boy number 23), frowned, looking in to the direction of the table.

"You know you can't talk to her; it'd ruin our family's reputation" Stelly reasoned, going after his brother as he started to walk away "Do you know all the rumors about her? You do, don't you?"

"They're just that, Stelly. Rumors" Sabo said, quickening his pace as he tried to control the urge to hit his adopted brother in the face.

"But everyone knows she skips classes" Stelly said, not giving up "And some of the girls have seen her taking drugs in the bathroom."

"Right" Sabo said, having heard this rumor too. Everyone else he could've ignored, but Vivi had said so too "But I'm sure she has her reasons."

"But brother-"

"Hey Sabo, hanging out with the whiny jerk again?" was asked from Sabo as his back was slapped by Portgas D. Ace (boy number 8.)

"Unfortunately, yeah" Sabo answered, ignoring Stelly's protests "So, what's up?"

"Do you wanna come play some video games to our place?" Ace asked "The regular gang is coming; you're the only one still missing."

"Sorry Ace, I can't" Sabo said "Dad wants me and Stelly home right after school."

"Right, that bastard father of yours" Ace said "Can't you just ditch him for once?"

"You can't brother; it wouldn't do well to our family's reputation" both Sabo and Ace gave Stelly a look before continuing their conversation.

"Sorry Ace, I really can't" Sabo said "I'll see you tomorrow."

XXXXX

"Arlong wait!" hissed Shirley (girl number 16), going after her brother Arlong and his three friends "You guys can't skip the health inspection tomorrow!"

"For the last time: yes we can and yes we will" Arlong said "Let's go guys."

"Arlong-"

"Shut up" Arlong interrupted "I'm not coming."

**A.N: And there we have the prologue.** **This story is rated T for now, but it will probably change in to M after first chapter. Also, in the end of the first chapter there will be list of all the students taking a part in the game. So, who feels like reviewing?**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Program**

"Rise and shine, girls!" a middle aged woman said cheerfully as she turned on the lights.

"Five more minutes..." Nami (girl number 12) muttered from her bed, making the woman's eyebrow twitch. She walked over to Nami's bed, pulling off her blanket.

"Ugh, Bellemere-san!" Nami complained. Bellemere was Nami and Nojiko's adoptive mother and had raised the girls on her own.

"Do I need to do this to you too, Nojiko?" she asked, looking at her other daughter's bed.

"I'm up, Bellemere-san, I'm up" Nojiko (girl number 17) said as she sat up on her bed. She had violet hair and a tattoo of the same color above her chest.

"Good" Bellemere said "Now dress in to your school uniforms and come to breakfast. Oh and don't forget you have the health inspection today."

Both girls groaned as they remembered this. It was too late to fake sick now.

XXXXX

"I don't wanna go!" complained Luffy (boy number 7) and hid under his bed.

"You get over here right now boy; it's just a health inspection!" yelled his grandfather, Monkey D. Garp "Ace, speak some sense to your brother!"

"Don't be a chicken Luffy; it's not like we're going to get vaccinations or something" said Ace (boy number 8) who had been adopted by Luffy's family.

"We won't?" Luffy said, peeking out from under his bed.

"No, we won't" Ace confirmed "Now go eat your breakfast."

Luffy nodded happily, skipping out of the room after putting his straw hat on his head. Most of the teachers didn't like the worn out hat, but Luffy didn't care.

"He was afraid of vaccinations?" Garp asked and Ace nodded.

"Yeah, but I have no idea if we get them or not" he admitted with a sheepish grin, making Garp laugh. The boy fooled them both.

XXXXX

"Good morning" Robin (girl number 4) said politely as she entered the kitchen of the house she had lived in almost ten years.

"Morning" her supporter replied as he put the finished breakfast on the table, sitting down. They ate in silence until her supporter asked: "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes"

"...you're lying again, aren't you?" the man asked lazily, raising his eyebrow. Robin didn't say anything, which was enough to confirm his suspicion. Her supporter sighed "At least eat something this morning. You have the health inspection today, don't you?"

"Yes" Robin simply replied, ignoring how her unnaturally tall supporter stood up to take his dishes to the sink.

"Try not to slap the doctor this time" the supporter said with a lazy smirk, but got no answer, not that it surprised him. He had long ago learned that this young woman was one of very few words.

XXXXX

"Zoro, wait up!" yelled the dark skinned, short boy called Tony Tony Chopper (boy number three) as he caught up with his green haired friend Zoro (boy number 18.)

"How can you be so cheerful even though we have the health inspection today?" Zoro asked, raising his eyebrow at the younger boy.

"That's exactly why!" Chopper answered with a smile, making Zoro sweat drop.

"You're the only guy I know that likes the idea of health inspection" he said "You little wannabe doctor. "

"I'll be a doctor one day" Chopper said stubbornly "Just like you'll be the best swordsman in the world."

"That's for sure" Zoro said with a grin, frowning as he saw a blonde young man in school uniform coming towards them.

"Scared of the health inspection, Marimo?" asked Sanji (boy number 28), making Zoro snort.

"No, 'cause I'm not you, Curly Brow" Zoro said, making Sanji's curly eyebrow twitch.

"Guys, don't start fighting again" Chopper pleaded "What will the doctor say if you're full of bruises?"

"The Marimo's going to be the only one with bruises" Sanji said, lifting his leg from the ground, ready to kick.

"Sanji-kun, Zoro-san, are you two fighting again?" asked Nefertari Vivi (girl number 8), a blue haired beauty from the first year as she walked over to them with Kohza (boy number 21.)

"Of course not, Vivi-chan!" Sanji said quickly. Everyone knew he was a terrible flirt with all the girls.

"That's good" Vivi said, backing away a step "It would be bad if you two were full of bruises today."

"That's what I said!" Chopper chirped happily "Have you seen Nami? She threatened to skip today because of the health inspection..."

"That's what I said, but we forgot it was today" Nami (girl number 12) said as she walked to them with her sister Nojiko (girl number 17.)

"That's so like you" Kohza said before kissing Nami. Zoro made gag noises, earning a light hit on the head from Nojiko.

"Don't start making out in the middle of the street" called their friend Franky (boy number 15), coming over to them.

"You know they prefer to do it in the middle of the classroom" Zoro said and the others laughed. Franky managed to dodge Nami's punch, but Zoro wasn't so lucky.

"Shut up" she hissed. Franky laughed at her, pocketing his sunglasses. He wasn't allowed to keep those in the school. Brushing his blue hair away from his face he said: "So, has anyone seen the school's trouble maker duo?"

"You mean the numbskull brothers?" Kohza asked "Haven't seen them yet."

"What do you need from them anyway?" Nami asked, brushing her orange hair away from her face with her hand. Franky grinned, saying: "I got Ace's cell phone fixed."

The others didn't question this; everyone in the school knew that Franky and his best friend/worst enemy Iceburg (boy number 17) were geniuses when it came to technology. Sadly the teachers didn't admit them as such, mostly because of Franky's laid-back and Iceburg's lazy attitude.

"You didn't add anything weird in it, did you?" Nami asked, very aware of Franky's reputation as a pervert.

"If Portgas starts yelling louder than usual when using his phone, yes" Nojiko said "We're in the same class; I'll keep you guys up to date."

XXXXX

Boa Hankcock (girl number 28) looked at herself from the bathroom´s mirror in the lunch break. She frowned, moving her long, black hair away from her face. She was beautiful, but in her opinion the school uniform she had to use ruined her beauty. Of course, she looked beautiful in anything, but these rags were just ridiculous. The skirt, just long enough to reach her knees, was light gray just like the blouse. Under it the girls had to wear a white t-shirt. The shoes were black and without heels. They used their own socks, which had to be one colored, but otherwise it didn't matter. They were allowed to use small accessories, such as scarves, earrings, ribbons or hats, but some teachers did tell them to take those off in their class.

"Ane-sama, the health inspection is after lunch. We should get downstairs" said Boa Sandesonja (girl number 6) as she came to the bathroom with their sister, Boa Marigold (girl number 2.) Sandersonja was tall, even taller than her older sister, and had long green hair and big green eyes. Marigold, the youngest, was also taller than Hancock. She had long, orange hair and huge muscles.

"Yes, let's go" Hancock agreed "My beauty cannot stand waiting."

XXXXX

"Next" the doctor called, making Franky (boy number 15) blink in confusion.

"Already? Chopper hasn't come out yet" he wondered out loud.

"Idiot, he obviously used another door" said a violet haired young man, Iceburg (boy number 17.) Franky glared at him, but didn't say anything since he realized that the older boy was probably right.

"Next"

"This sure is going fast" Ace (boy number 8) told to his brother Luffy (boy number 7), who nodded "The faster the better."

"There goes the bitch queen" Nami (girl number 12) whispered to Kohza (boy number 21) as Hancock (girl number 28) walked past them. People went in, but no one came out. Everyone assumed that they were using another door, but if they had known the truth, a panic would have broken out.

"How come I'm the last one?" Ace suddenly realized as he saw Luffy going inside "I must've have fallen asleep again..."

And that he had, since Portgas D. Ace had narcolepsy.

"Next" Ace walked to the infirmary as he was called, noticing the red mark on the doctor's face.

"Did one of the girls slap you or something?" he asked, but the doctor just ignored him, telling him to sit down. Ace rolled his eyes, but sat down anyway. When the doctor pulled out a needle he started to wonder if the one who had slapped him had been Luffy.

"_Nah, the mark would be bigger if it was" _he thought, not even winching as the needle went through his skin. After a while he blinked, starting to feel dizzy.

"_Huh? What's happening?" _he thought, trying to stand up but his legs failed him and he blacked out.

XXXXX

When Luffy woke up he realized three things: first, he was hungry. Second: he wasn't in the infirmary anymore, but in some kind of class and three: his hat wasn't on his head.

"Where's my hat?" he asked out loud.

"On the floor next to you" Luffy turned around to face the speaker, seeing Zoro sitting at the desk behind him with his arms crossed.

"Thanks Zoro" Luffy said, picking up his hat and putting it on his head. He looked around, seeing his classmates and people from the two other classes. Some were just waking up, but most were looking around themselves, confused.

"We're not in the school" Nami stated, having memorized all the classrooms in the said building "Where are we?"

"No idea" Ace said from next to her, looking around. He noticed that three faces stood out among the others, all of them being students from the third year. These students were Rob Lucci (boy number 13), Spandam (boy number 2) and Nico Robin (girl number 4.) Lucci was sitting quietly on his seat as usual, his face unreadable, like he didn't give shit about where they were. Spandam was sitting completely still as well, but he looked like he was in shock. And Robin, always so calm Robin, was hugging herself, shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"She probably has withdrawal effects from the drugs" Nami told to Ace as she noticed what he was looking at.

"Yeah, probably" Ace said, starting to feel uneasy. Something was very wrong here. Everyone's attention drifted to the door as it opened and in came a tall, blond haired man in a pink coat, sunglasses covering his eyes.

"Fufufu, looks like everyone is awake" he said. His smile didn't drop as the students started to bombard him with questions, such as "Where are we" "Why are we here" "Who are you" and so on.

"Now now, one at the time" the man said "I will explain everything."

He walked over to the front desk, sitting on it.

"My name is Donquixote Doflamingo, and I welcome you-"he grinned sadistically "To the Program."

Silence filled the room as everyone sat like they were frozen, completely still. Then, panicked whispering started to fill the room.

"No way..."

"This can't be!"

"This is a joke, right?"

"I wanna go home"

Doflamingo waited for few minutes before pulling out a gun and shooting in the air, silencing the whole class.

"Keep your mouths shut when the teacher, which in this case is me, talks" he ordered, but didn't seem angry "I assume everyone knows what the Program is, no? Good."

"So, let me begin to explain the rules- hm? What is it?" Doflamingo asked as he saw one of the students, Spandam (boy number 2) raising his hand.

"Are you sure you have the right school?" he asked "My father works for the government; there has to be a mistake!"

"Right right, you're Spandine's son" Doflamingo said after a moment of thinking "I know the guy, faithful to the government and all... that's why he didn't mind. In fact, he asked me to take a message to you. Do you want to hear it or shall we continue?"

Spandam couldn't help but nod. Doflamingo was still smiling, but something in his tone told Spandam he should be very careful with his words now.

"He said that you'd win since you're his son, above the others here" Doflamingo said, knowing that with these words he had made at least one person determined to play the game "Now, let's go back to business."

"I suppose all of you know what this game is about and how to win it, but I'll tell you anyway" Doflamingo said, the dark smile never leaving his face "This game's main rule is survival for the fittest; you snooze you lose. You have to kill each other until only one survives. You have a time limit of one week, starting the moment the first student steps out of this class. If more than one person lives after the week, everyone die."

The students swallowed. Most of them had known all this, but to hear it being said right in front of them like this was something they had never imagined.

"Like some of you have probably noticed by now, all of you have collars around your neck" Doflamingo continued, hopping down from the table. He drew a map of the island where they currently were and where the game would take place on the blackboard, saying: "This island is split into many different zones, from A1 to J16. I will make announcements for you four times a day, every six hours, in which I tell you the names of the dead and the forbidden zones. To but it simply: if you're in a certain zone when it becomes forbidden, you die. Oh, and five minutes after the last one has left this area will become a forbidden zone."

Doflamingo snapped his fingers and a man came in, pushing a cart with huge bags on it.

"Each of you will get a bag with food, water, map of the island, a pen, compass and a flashlight in it. And let's not forget the most important item: your own, personal weapon!" Doflamingo explained, raising an eyebrow as he saw one raised hand again "Yes?"

"Just to be sure" one of the boys, one with a pineapple like blond hair, Marco (boy number 24) started "We're allowed to steal stuff from other players, weapons included, right?"

He said it even though he was well aware of the horrified looks he got from others. He didn't really want to play, but he believed that if someone attacked him he wouldn't hesitate to kill. He just had to know what was allowed.

"Of course" Doflamingo said "Anymore questions?"

Nojiko (girl number 17) was about to ask had their parents been informed about this, but decided against it. She wouldn't gain anything from that information.

"No? Good." Doflamingo said with a smirk wider than any of the earlier ones "Let the game begin!"

Student list:

Boy number 1: Coby Girl number 1: Mozu

Boy number 2: Spandam Girl number 2: Boa Marigold

Boy number 3: Tony Tony Chopper Girl number 3: Kaya

Boy number 4: Helmeppo Girl number 4: Nico Robin

Boy number 5: Yosaku Girl number 5: Camie

Boy number 6: Johnny Girl number 6: Boa Sandersonja

Boy number 7: Monkey D. Luffy Girl number 7: Kalifa

Boy number 8: Portgas D. Ace Girl number 8: Nefertari Vivi

Boy number 9: Crocodile Girl number 9: Miss Valentine

Boy number 10: Daz Bones Girl number 10: Margaret

Boy number 11: Usopp Girl number 11: Shirahoshi

Boy number 12: Trafalgar Law Girl number 12: Nami

Boy number 13: Rob Lucci Girl number 13: Ishilly

Boy number 14: Kaku Girl number 14: Alphelandra

Boy number 15: Franky Girl number 15: Conis

Boy number 16: Eustas Kid Girl number 16: Shirley

Boy number 17: Iceburg Girl number 17: Nojiko

Boy number 18: Roronoa Zoro Girl number 18: Tashigi

Boy number 19: Sabo Girl number 19: Haruta

Boy number 20: Izou Girl number 20: Sweetpea

Boy number 21: Kohza Girl number 21: Jewelry Bonney

Boy number 22: Ener Girl number 22: Monet

Boy number 23: Stelly Girl number 23: Kiwi

Boy number 24: Marco Girl number 24: Perona

Boy number 25: Paulie Girl number 25: Paula

Boy number 26: Bon Clay Girl number 26: Sadi-chan

Boy number 27: Bellamy Girl number 27: Domino

Boy number 28: Sanji Girl number 28: Boa Hancock

Game begun: 56 students remaining

**A.N: So, did you like the first chapter? I put the student list in the end of the chapter to make it clearer who was playing... I write their player number after their name because that's how it's done in the book, but I suppose I'll only write those once in every chapter from now on. When I publish the next chapter I'll mostly likely change this in to M rated story, since that's when the killing starts. Have fun waiting for the next one!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A.N: If you found your way here then that means that you've probably noticed this is an M rated story now... had to change it since the killing will begin now.**

**Chapter 2: Let the Game Begin!**

"Now get up, boy number 1, Coby" the said pink haired boy sat still, shocked. _He _was the first one who had to go out there?

"I said get up" Doflamingo repeated and this time the boy with glassed did get up. He took his own bag and the one the guard, he assumed, gave him. When he was out of the door Doflamingo said: "There will be two minutes between all of you. The ones who go first are lucky; they get the head start."

After Coby came Mozu (girl number 1), friend of Kiwi (girl number 23.) When the number 2s had gone it was the turn of the boy number 3, Tony Tony Chopper. The young boy, short for his age, stood up and walked to the front of the class while holding back his tears. He looked at his friends who still remained in the class, smiling just a little as Franky (boy number 15) mouthed "Good luck." Next was girl number 3, Kaya, a blond haired beauty. Unlike Chopper who had managed to hold back his tears, she was crying.

"That's wrong attitude; hurry up and you might even be able to kill the Shorty who went out before you." Doflamingo commented either not noticing or just ignoring the glares he got. Next was boy number 4, a guy with long blonde hair called Helmeppo. He looked very nervous, but he wasn't crying. After him came girl number 4, Nico Robin. As she walked to the front of the class some of the students noticed how her lower lip was bleeding. It wasn't hard to guess the cause; she was biting it so hard, probably not even realizing it herself. As soon as she got her bag she ran out of the room at full speed.

"Now that's more like it" Doflamingo said with a laugh. People left, one after another, and then it was Luffy's (boy number 7) turn. He was pretty calm, at least if you thought about the situation they were in. Taking his bag he glared Doflamingo before leaving. As Luffy got out of the building he glanced around, looking for his friends that had left before him but saw no one. He didn't want to be alone, so he decided to wait for his brother Ace (boy number 8) behind a corner, since he was the next guy to come out. He stood still, trying to be as quiet as he could as Kalifa (girl number 7) came out. She was from the second year and one of the violent ones; Luffy didn't really like her and besides, she already had her weapon out. A whip with spikes. Two minutes later Ace came out, and Luffy called out for his brother, startling him. Ace, who had gone in to a fighting stance, relaxed as he realized who it was.

"Jesus, Luffy, don't do that!" he yelled, walking over to his slightly shorter brother "What about the others?"

"I've only seen Kalifa, but I thought that calling out to her would be a bad idea... she had her weapon out" Luffy told and Ace nodded in understanding "Should we wait for Sabo? Or Zoro? Usopp? Anyone?"

Ace thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"No; between us and them there will be pretty suspicious guys" he told. As much as he wished that no one would play, he knew they would "But Vivi comes out next, let's wait for her okay?"

"Okay" Luffy said. About two minutes later the blue haired beauty came out, tears streaming down her face as she walked.

"Vivi!" Luffy called, and her reaction was similar to Ace's, except that she was shaking.

"Relax, it's us" Ace said, coming in to full view with Luffy. Vivi stared for a moment before visibly relaxing, lowering her guard.

"I'm so scared" she sobbed, covering her face with her hands "I don't know what to do, I don't know how many of us are playing, I-"

"Calm down" Ace said, taking a hold of her shoulders "We'll think about that later, but right now we need to get away from the school."

Vivi, still crying, nodded with Luffy and the three of them disappeared in to the darkness of the night.

XXXXX

Rob Lucci (boy number 13) stepped out of the building, his personal weapon in his hand already. To say he had good luck would be underestimating it, for he had gotten a machine gun. Nice, no? He checked his surroundings, but no one was around. Of course, Kalifa (girl number 7) and Spandam (boy number 2) wouldn't be stupid enough to wait for him and Kaku (boy number 14) here. Lucci smirked; Kaku would be the next guy outside, between the two of them was only Ishilly (girl number 13) from the second year. Unless someone had died already, Lucci had just decided the first victim of the game. He hid in the shadows, waiting patiently. As soon as the black haired beauty was in sight, Lucci attacked, strangling her. He could have used his machine gun and he really wanted to, but if he did the ones still inside would realize someone was playing and waiting near the exit. He didn't want that.

When Kaku got out, Ishilly was taking her last breaths, still strangled by Lucci.

"...You look like you're having fun" he commented to the black haired man, which was true. He was smirking like a maniac. Kaku didn't need to ask why Lucci wasn't using the machine gun laying next to him; he wasn't stupid.

For a moment Kaku felt sorry for his female classmate. Ishilly was not a stunning beauty, but one wouldn't call her ugly either. She was always cheerful and friendly, although a bit too loud for Kaku's liking sometimes. When the blond noticed that Ishilly was looking at him, he gave her his usual friendly smile, one that did not fit in to the situation.

"Bye, see you in hell" Kaku told, those being the last words Ishilly ever heard. If the two guys noticed the tears on her face they didn't acknowledge them.

"Let's go" Lucci said, taking his weapon and bag, standing up.

"You're not taking Ishilly's bag?" Kaku asked, not minding the body of the young woman in the slightest.

"I don't need it" Lucci said "Take it if you want."

"Nah, I'm fine with my own" Kaku said, leaving the school behind together with Lucci, not sure when he'd return or if he ever returned at all.

XXXXX

Roronoa Zoro (boy number 18) walked out, immediately spotting Ishilly's body.

"_So it's already started, huh..." _he thought. One would think that he'd be more upset, but he had seen this coming. They had some pretty insane people at school. As for why he wasn't upset... well, he was, but he was damn good at hiding his emotions. Zoro's eyes landed on Ishilly's throat, telling him she'd been strangled. Her eyes had been closed and her bag was missing, making Zoro wonder if the killer had taken it.

"_If so then he'll have more than one weapon" _he thought with a frown. Things weren't looking good.

XXXXX

Boa Hancock (girl number 28) was the last to leave the building. She didn't mind; the star was always saved for last, after all. Naturally she saw Ishilly's body as well, but wasn't bothered by it. After all, the second year student wasn't anyone important.

"_I'll have to find my sisters first... and I'll kill anyone who get's in my way!" _she decided, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. She had been told she'd have five minutes before the area became a forbidden zone, so the first thing she decided to do was to check her weapon. She got a scythe.

"_A gun would've been better" _she thought. If she'd known what kind of "weapons" some of the others got, she wouldn't even considered complaining.

XXXXX

"Stop" Ace suddenly said to his little brother and friend, making them stop.

"Wh-what is it?" Vivi asked, looking around rapidly. Was someone coming?

"Let's stop to rest and think here; the trees will hide us" Ace said, sitting down "Check your weapons."

Luffy and Vivi sat down as well, pulling out their weapons.

"A rubber bat?" Luffy said, blinking in confusion. Not that he was complaining; he wouldn't know how to use a gun anyway. Vivi was even more confused, for she didn't find a weapon, just a ring.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked in a small whisper, eyeing the ring.

"You sure have a bad luck" Ace said with a small chuckle, but Vivi saw nothing fun in their situation "I got a flamethrower."

"So... what now?" Vivi asked hesitantly, her eyes going back and forth between the brothers. Ace took out his map, saying: "Well in case you didn't know, we're around here."

He was pointing at the woods directly south from their starting point. It was one of the smallest ones on the island, but big enough to hide in... And to get ambushed; they needed to be careful.

"We need to think who we trust, who we don't and who we have to be aware around" Ace said, sighing. There was a moment of silence before he continued: "I don't want to play, but if I have to kill to protect you two, I will."

The two others fell silent. Vivi didn't know what Luffy was thinking, but she had never seen Ace so _serious. _He was always goofing around with the other boys, although not as much as his brother.

"_It's understandable; this situation is inhuman" _she thought. However, she deeply disliked the idea of killing "But what if no one else wants to play either?"

"That'd be good, but I think you too can name a few guys who will, can't you?" Ace said. When he got no answer he said, a bit more softly this time: "Vivi... I don't want to kill either, but the truth is that all of our classmates aren't that nice."

Vivi looked at Luffy, hoping for some back up. Luffy looked directly in her eyes, saying in the most serious tone Vivi or Ace had ever heard him use: "If it is to protect my friends I will fight, even kill."

"That's ri-"

"But that's okay since our friends are good guys!" Luffy said with a grin, making his brother face palm "Luffy!"

"What? They're good people, right?" he asked, completely serious. Ace hesitated a bit before saying: "Most of them, yes, but some of them are not."

He hoped that his words got through, but apparently not since both Vivi and Luffy were looking at him disappointedly.

"Okay, fine, but let's be careful, especially around Crocodile and Rob Lucci" Ace said "Anyone else we should be aware of?"

"Croc's friend Daz" Luffy said. Unlike Vivi he didn't realize they were listing potential killers "And Lucci's friends box nose, that blond lady and Spanda."

Neither felt the need to correct that the name was Spandam, not Spanda.

"But they're not necessarily-"

"Not necessarily, but I'd say they are the most likely ones" Ace interrupted, adding: "Anyone else?"

Without even realizing it Vivi opened her mouth adding a new name to the killer list: "Nico Robin"

"Yeah, possibly" he agreed "I don't think anyone knows a lot about her; can't tell what kind of person she really is."

"But she can be a good person too" ever so optimistic Luffy said.

"Yeah, she can" Ace said, giving up for now. They couldn't afford to let their guard down, so starting an argument now, as much as he wanted it, would be a waste of time and strength.

XXXXX

West from the school was a small group of houses. There, right in the first house was Kiwi (girl number 23), holding her scalpel as she hid behind a door, knowing someone else was there as well. Kiwi wasn't the most beautiful girl in school with her sharp, long nose and square, curly afro.

"Is someone there?" she heard a voice ask, a voice she recognized. It was Conis (girl number 15) from the second year. She was a nice, sweet girl but in situation like this Kiwi didn't trust her. She really hoped the blonde would just leave. After a while she did and Kiwi let out the breath she had been holding. That was close.

She didn't realize it herself, but this was the exact reason why the game always worked so well: the people, no matter how well they knew each other, always became suspicious. They couldn't trust each other and ended up thinking that they needed to kill the others before they'd be able to do the same.

"_I need to calm down... is there anyone I can trust?" _she thought, two names popping to her head immediately. Franky (boy number 15) and Mozu (girl number 1), possibly even Iceburg (boy number 17) and Paulie (boy number 25) could be trusted. She had to find them.

XXXXX

Marco (boy number 24) looked over his shoulder; he was far enough. He sat down with a heavy sigh, opening his bag, wanting to find out what his weapon was.

"..." he was speechless as he found a pair of high heels from there "What the hell should I do with these?"

With a heavy sigh he threw them away; they'd only weight him down. He took out his map, checking it over. He had run south east from the school and was now hiding in the bushes. That would work for now, but as the dawn came he'd have to move.

"_I'll try to find someone trustworthy from the town" _he thought, deciding to head towards the small town south east. He hoped to find Ace, but in this situation any of his friends would do. He was pretty sure he had seen Paula (girl number 25) a while ago, but he hadn't called out to her. She was one of those that he didn't trust. He had seen Ishilly's body, so he knew at least one person was playing. His guess for the killer was Rob Lucci, since he had left right before Ishilly. The longhaired man and his friends couldn't be trusted, that much Marco knew.

"_Crocodile and Daz are out too..._ _and the crazy Boa sisters, Ener, probably Trafalgar and Eustass, not to mention the drug addict girl." _he thought, listing the people he should avoid in his mind _"The most harmless ones are probably Shirahoshi and Vivi from the first year."_

Marco sighed. He couldn't go to sleep because someone could sneak up on him... he needed to find someone else so that they could take turns in keeping watch.

XXXXX

Franky (boy number 15) was leaning against a tree, tapping his foot against the ground impatiently. He had managed to give Iceburg (boy number 17) a note that said where they should meet when he left. He had gone east, just enough so that he'd be outside the forbidden zone for sure. Now he waited for Iceburg so that they could think what to do together. When he heard rustling from the bushes he took out a screwdriver, his weapon, but relaxed when he noticed it was just Iceburg.

"It's super to see you found your way here" he said. Iceburg only nodded, not understanding how Franky could be so calm. He noticed that Franky had two bags and realized: "You took Ishilly's bag?"

"Yeah" Franky said "It sure startled me when I saw her body... I closed her eyes and took her bag before someone else could. She had a truncheon."

"...Ma~ I suppose we both suspect the same person of her murder, don't we?" Iceburg asked, getting a nod. As much as the two of them hated to think it, the killer was probably Lucci. After all he had left right before Ishilly. A silence fell over them before Franky asked: "What direction should we head in?"

"North east, to the small mountains" Iceburg told "If I remember correctly there should be a lab; we might find something useful."

Franky whistled; he had always known Iceburg wasn't a useless guy. They'd come up with an escape plan, he was sure of it.

XXXXX

Domino (girl number 27) looked around, silently cursing about her stupid weapon. What was she supposed to do with matches anyway? Lit a signal fire that said "I'm here, come and kill me"? Domino had ripped a piece of her skirt right after she had left and tied up her hair with it, knowing that her blond locks would just end up getting in her way. She had gone south as well, but didn't run in to Luffy's little group, for they were already deeper in the forest.

"You're Domino, right?" Domino whirled around in surprise, having not realized that someone else was there too. The other person was Alphelandra (girl number 14), brown haired tall beauty.

"You're not playing, are you?" Alphelandra asked nervously, staying where she was. There was a pause before Domino answered: "No, I'm not."

And she wasn't. She had been called many things, like bully, slut, thief and such, and she had to admit she was all of those, but she was not a killer.

"I'm so relieved" Alphelandra said, visibly relaxing "I was afraid I was the only one who didn't want to play..."

"I on the other hand know at least ten who won't play..." Domino muttered, thinking about the cowards from the first year "How were you able to sneak up on me like that?"

"I was?" Alphelandra asked, knowing she wasn't the quietest person around "Maybe you just weren't paying attention to your surroundings."

Domino frowned, that could be it.

"So... what are you going to do?" Alphelandra asked "Are you going to look for the others?"

"...probably" Domino answered "I can't do anything on my own."

"Can we look for them together?" Alphelandra asked.

"Sure, why not" Domino said and the younger girl happily came to stand by her side. She had never liked her, but right now anyone was fine. As much as she tried to forget it, she couldn't help but wonder how and why Alphelandra had sneaked up on her.

"_Is she trying to trick me?" _the blonde thought, her eyes widening _"Is she waiting that I let my guard down before she kills me?"_

The truth was that no, she wasn't. Alphelandra had been relieved when she found her; she didn't want to play. And neither did Domino, but she was falling for the deathliest trap in the game: doubt. She looked straight at Alphelandra, who was walking slightly ahead of her. Where exactly were they going? Was she leading her in to a trap? Domino's eyes widened; she wouldn't be killed, not like this! She had to do something, but what? She was pulled out of her thoughts as she saw her companion going through her bag. Was she taking out her weapon to kill her? Panicking, Domino started to strangle Alphelandra from behind. The brunette gasps, dropping her bag in surprise.

"Domino-san?" she questions, trying to pry the hands off of her throat "It's hard to breath."

Domino doesn't let go, just keeps strangling the younger girl. Alphelandra's instincts took over and she managed to kick Domino off of her feet, making them both fall down. However, the brunette didn't have a chance to try to reason with the blond as she grabbed her long hair, pulling it. Alphelandra managed to hold back her scream, trying to pry the hands out of her hair. When that didn't work she yanked her head forward, letting out a small scream of pain as part of her hair got yanked off.

"Domino-san, stop!" she tried, but Domino didn't listen. They ended up wrestling on the ground, Domino having the upper hand. The wrestling lasted for a while and then all of sudden Alphelandra heard a crack. She looked down at Domino's head, noticing the blood.

"Domino-san?" she asked, touching her head carefully. She had hit her head on a sharp rock, dying immediately. It was an accident, but at that moment Alphelandra couldn't help but think that she had killed her. She looked at her bloody, shaking hands. She killed her, she killed Domino. She _killed _another person! The rustling bushes pulled her out of her thoughts. No... no no _no! _If someone saw her like this they'd think she'd done it on purpose! Alphelandra quickly took her bag, running away as fast as her legs could carry her.

Ace came out of the bushes with his flashlight. He wouldn't have wanted to use it, but since the trees were blocking the moon it was hard to see.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ace asked cautiously as he noticed the person on the ground. He pointed at her face with his flashlight, his eyes widening at the sight of blood.

"No..." he muttered. It wasn't supposed to go like this; no one was supposed to be playing! But they were, there was at least one person who was. Ace threw up. He didn't feel ill easily, but he just saw a death person for the first time in his life.

"_I need to get back to Luffy and Vivi... before the killer gets them too!" _he realized. They had heard a scream, so Ace had gone to check it out. He had had a bad feeling, but he had really hoped he was wrong. What should he say to them?

XXXXX

"Let's take a break here" said Johnny (boy number 6) to his friend Yosaku (boy number 5.) They had found each other almost immediately after leaving the school building and had headed south west to small woods. They sat down, eyeing their weapons. Yosaku got a sword while Johnny only had a fishing rod.

"Johnny?"

"Yeah?" Yosaku hesitated before asking: "Do you think... that someone's playing this game?"

Johnny looked down in silence. They had avoided the subject, but it was bound to come up sooner or later and now was a good time since they were resting.

"I hope not" he said finally "But at 6 am they will announce the forbidden zones and the death, so..."

"So if someone's dead, at least one person is playing?" Yosaku asked and Johnny nodded.

"That's not all" Johnny said, pocketing his sunglasses. There was no need for them at 2 am "Even if everyone's still alive, someone might be playing. That'd just mean that those who play haven't found anyone."

"Right" Yosaku said with a sigh, resting his head in his hands "I wish aniki was here..."

"We'll find him" Johnny said "After we've rested. I'll take the first watch."

XXXXX

Ace jumped when the 6 am announcement came. He glanced at Luffy and Vivi, and to his annoyance the two had woken up because of the sudden noise.

"What's going on?" Vivi asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"The 6 a clock announcement" Ace said, gritting his teeth. They'd tell about Domino's death; Vivi and Luffy would find out someone was playing. Vivi's eyes widened as she remembered where they were and why.

"Is the breakfast ready?" Luffy asked sleepily, making Ace hit him lightly. The younger boy blinked a few times before realization fell upon him too "Oh, it wasn't a dream."

"More like a nightmare" Ace said, going through his bag. Doflamingo's voice from the speakers made them all tense.

"_Good morning, little players!"_ he called out _"I must say I'm disappointed; only two deaths during these six hours."_

Ace cursed silently, Luffy's face darkened and Vivi paled.

Someone was playing the game.

**A.N: Just to be clear: none of the players (or other characters in this fic) are OCs (some might be OOC tough.) In case you don't know, Paula is Miss Double finger and Ishilly is one of the mermaids who work for Shirley. Who do you guys want to survive? Who should die? Who I should write more about? **


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Of Alliances and Betrayals**

"I heard it wrong, right?" Vivi (girl number 8) said, glancing at the brothers "He didn't say that some of us are dead, right?"

When the two didn't answer she asked more urgently: "Right?"

Ace (boy number 8) took off his orange cowboy hat and Luffy (boy number 7) followed his example. They were showing their respect to the death. Tears fell down Vivi's face; there was no turning back now.

"_Now to the names of the death, both of them women" _Doflamingo said happily _"Girl number 13: Ishilly and girl number 27: Domino. I expect you all to do better in the next six hours! And now for the forbidden zones."_

Ace let out a breath he had been holding. He felt sorry for Ishilly of course, but he was glad it wasn't one of his closer friends. He took the map and pen he had taken out earlier; ready to mark the forbidden zones.

"You two write up the forbidden zones too in case we get separated" he said, regretting it almost immediately as he saw Vivi's panicked look "Not that we will, just to be safe."

Vivi didn't quite believe him, but both she and Luffy did as he said.

"_Ready? From 8 am: G 11 and from 11 am: H 4. That's all for now; try to do a little better this time!" _Ace sighed in relief as he marked the forbidden zones; theirs was safe. For now.

"What do we do now?" Vivi asked, completely depressed by the death of the two girls. She didn't know them too well, in fact she didn't even like Domino, but the news of their deaths still depressed her.

"We eat" Luffy said simply "You can't think with an empty stomach!"

"I have to agree with him on that one" Ace said with a quiet chuckle "And we better eat now when we have a chance."

Vivi looked at them in disbelief. How could they think about food at a time like this? Ace, noticing her expression, said: "Don't give me a look like that. We need energy to survive and we'll get that from food. It's as simple as that."

Vivi still wasn't sure about it, but took her food out anyway.

"Don't eat too much Luffy; it needs to last for a week" Ace told, carefully keeping an eye on his eating brother.

"What? But I usually eat much more than-"

"Luffy" Ace interrupted his brother, giving him a serious look.

"Okay" Luffy muttered, taking out about as much food as Ace had. They ate in silence as Ace planned their next move.

XXXXX

Camie (girl number 5) leaned against a tree in the woods in North West. She hadn't seen anyone else since she left the school and had just heard about the deaths of Domino (girl number 27) and Ishilly (girl number 13.) She and Ishilly, along with Shirley (girl number 16) had been good friends for years. She'd never thought it'd end like this. The green haired girl had always been naïve, but now even she knew someone was playing the game.

"_What should I do? I don't even know who's playing; I might run in to the killer without even realizing it" _Camie thought, biting her lip nervously. Would it be safer to stay still or to move around looking for others, she didn't know even that much.

"_Poor Ishilly... she didn't even get the chance to tell about her feelings..."_

_Flashback:_

_Camie, Ishilly and Shirley were sitting under a tree, eating their lunches and watching how the kendo club practiced after eating their lunches. The kendo captain, Roronoa Zoro (boy number 18) was the idol and crush of many girls in the school. The kendo club had five members in total, four guys and one girl. Ishilly had her eyes on the so called vice captain of the team._

"_How about a little duel, Roronoa?" the vice captain asked with a smirk, making the green haired young man smirk as well._

"_Sure, but don't go crying to the teachers after I've beaten you up" Zoro said, taking a stance._

"_You'll be the one crying, Roronoa" the girls shook their heads at the declaration and Camie asked: "Why are they fighting?"_

"_They're the kendo club, Camie" Shirley said, eyeing the two boys "It's just a friendly duel, can't even be called a fight."_

"_That's right" Ishilly said, cheering for the blonde "Get him, Kaku-kun!"_

_The two others gave her odd looks, making her ask: "What?"_

"_You know, most girls cheer for Roronoa" Shirley said, joking: "You wouldn't happen to have a thing for Kaku-san, would you?"_

"_..."_

"_..."_

"_Ishilly?"_

"_So you do, huh" Shirley stated like it was a fact. Ishilly crossed her arms, asking: "So what if I have?"_

"_Isn't he a delinquent?" Camie asked, but Ishilly snorted._

"_So? Arlong's little gang does worse things than Kaku-kun and his friends do" Ishilly defended._

"_That's true" Shirley agreed "But I have a bad feeling of Kaku-san and his friends, so if you approach them be very careful."_

_Flashback_

"_That's right; Shirley's instinct is always right... I must be careful around Kakuchi and his friends." _Camie realized. Shirley had extremely sharp instincts, which had given her the nickname "fortune teller" Shirley _"I need to find Shirley; she'll know who we can trust!"_

XXXXX

Running steps could be heard in the island, zone H10 as Helmeppo (boy number 4) ran away, being chased. He wasn't sure who it was, but from the heavy steps he could tell it was another guy. Helmeppo, despite being a coward, was no fool. The person chasing him might not be the same who killed Ishilly or Domino, but he was definitely playing.

"_What have I ever done to deserve this!? Daddy works for the government; my class shouldn't have been taken in to something like this anyway!" _he thought, trying to jump over a rock but as luck would have it, he tripped. He flew to the ground, scraping his arms and legs in the process.

"_I'll be fine; my weapons are pretty good after all" _Helmeppo tried to convince himself, taking out his kukris as he saw Eustass Kidd (boy number 16) walking towards him. What surprised Helmeppo about the red haired man was the fact that he was holding a gun.

"Wh-ha... if you had a gun all this time why didn't you shoot?" he asked. Kidd snorted, saying: "That wouldn't have been fun."

He raised his gun, pointing it at Helmeppo.

"Goodbye, loser"

XXXXX

Roronoa Zoro (boy number 18) frowned as he saw the damn school again. Luckily the building was much larger than the others; otherwise he might have accidentally gone to the forbidden zone. He was in east, E9, right next to a forbidden zone. He'd been walking since he left the school, which was about six hours ago, but still hadn't gotten out of the eastern forest. As much as he hated to admit it, he had been walking in circles for hours.

"_This is ridiculous" _he thought, turning to face the opposite direction of the school, to east. If he walked straight ahead he had to end up somewhere. When he finally got to the edge of the forest, which wouldn't have taken even half of the time he had used if he'd have a sense of direction, he saw a lake. He thought about swimming through it, but decided against it since it was still so early and bit dark. If someone started to shoot at him while he was in the water, fighting would be extremely hard.

"_I'll follow the shoreline then" _he thought with a smirk, looking at the three swords at his side. Since he had gotten three he thought everyone had good weapons, but he was deadly wrong _"I'll be fine; I'm not the kendo club's captain for nothing."_

As he walked he wondered who he could really trust.

"_Luffy and Chopper obviously, Vivi and Ace too. Franky and Usopp, most likely Nami and Curly Brow too. Yosaku and Johnny in case they haven't gone nuts..." _he thought, moving to the dangerous ones _"Lucci and his three friends are out of question, just like Crocodile's gang... I wouldn't put my trust in Law or Kidd either. I should probably be aware of Arlong's sister and that drug addict... and Tashigi."_

Zoro groaned in annoyance as he thought about the only female member of the kendo club. Tashigi (girl number 18) was a splitting image of Zoro's deceased childhood friend Kuina with her short, dark blue hair and round face, not to mention they both practiced swordsmanship. However, unlike Kuina had been Tashigi was very clumsy. Zoro had never won Kuina in duel and because of her and Tashigi's similar looks he always refused her challenges.

"_But if she has a sword now... if she challenges me here..." _Zoro thought, his hand going to rest on his swords. If Tashigi were to challenge him here, he'd have to fight.

"_Looks like I'm not the only one following the shoreline" _Zoro thought as he saw a figure close by, kneeling next to the lake. He crouched down, approaching the person cautiously, wanting to know who it was.

"_Let's see... shorter than me, but the uniform makes it clear it's a guy" _Zoro thought, frowning. He was pretty tall himself, so the he couldn't tell who the other one was by his height. He took one step closer, freezing as a twig snapped under his leg.

"_Just my luck" _he thought as the person turned to look at him in alarm. It did bring out something good too, tough, for he was able to recognize the other guy.

"_Coby, huh" _he thought as he realized it was Coby (boy number 1), a pink haired boy from the first year. They stared at each other, or in Coby's case to the direction Zoro was in, before taking off.

"Shit" Zoro cursed under his breath. He couldn't call for Coby, for it might get him some unwanted attention. All he could do was to run after the boy.

"Coby wait, it's me!" Zoro whispered, wishing that Coby would hear him. He didn't, but lucky for Zoro his foot slipped and he fell in to the lake.

"_Let's just hope the game hadn't driven him crazy" _Zoro thought as he cautiously walked towards the boy "Coby"

"Zoro-san?" the pink haired boy questioned, holding a fork. Had the situation been different, the sight would have made Zoro laugh.

"Yeah, it's me" Zoro said, holding his hand out for Coby to take so that the younger boy could get up. He hesitated, but in the end took Zoro's hand anyway. As Coby was out of water Zoro asked: "So, what's your weapon?"

"This" Coby replied, holding out the fork. Zoro blinked before bursting out laughing: "You're joking right?"

Coby shook his head, asking: "What's yours?"

"These" Zoro said, pointing at the three swords at his eyes.

"What?" Coby asked in disbelief "You get three swords and I get a fork? It makes no sense!"

"When does life ever?" Zoro asks with a shrug "Want one?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want one of the swords?" Zoro asked, holding out one for Coby to take "I don't think you could do much with that fork of yours."

"B-but I don't know how to use one" Coby said, looking at the sword and wondering how heavy it was.

"It can work as a scare" Zoro said "Are you going to take it or not?"

Coby looked at the sword for a moment longer before taking it.

"Zoro-san, do you have some kind of plan?"

"I'll try to find my friends; one of them might have come up with something" he replied, turning to leave "You in?"

"Y-yeah" Coby stuttered, glad that he didn't have to be alone anymore "But Zoro-san, that's the direction you came from."

XXXXX

"Chopper-kun?" said Kaya (girl number 3) as she walked with Tony Tony Chopper (boy number 3) towards the village in south east. They had heard a gunshot a while ago and started running without a second thought.

"Yeah?" Chopper asked, holding his weapon, an axe, with both hands.

"Do you think... someone was killed like Ishilly-san and Domino-san?" Chopper stopped, looking at Kaya over his shoulder. Had someone died? Hopefully not...

"It might just have been a warning shot; don't worry" Chopper said, but didn't believe his own words and neither did Kaya.

"_I need to protect Kaya... Sanji always keeps saying how men must protect women, so I will! I'm a man, too!" _Chopper thought. He knew he wouldn't be much of help if someone decided to attack them, but he had to try. Kaya was his friend; after all they were both members of the science club.

"_Wait the science club!" _Chopper thought, getting an idea "Kaya?"

"Yes?"

"Should we look for Law? He's a club member too" the boy suggested. There were times when he was a bit afraid of Law, but in the end he respected him very much. Besides he was smart; he might even come up with a way to get out of the game. Kaya however, looked down.

"I don't think it's a good idea..." she trailed off, getting Chopper's attention "Why not?"

"Well, he's polite and well mannered, but isn't he a little... sadistic?" Kaya asked, murmuring so quietly that Chopper almost didn't hear her "He might even be playing..."

Chopper bit his lip, knowing that Kaya was right. But even if Law was cruel, it didn't need to mean he was playing... right?

"Let's think about it if we see him, all right?" Chopper finally asked, making Kaya nod. Neither of them wanted to think who could kill them the second a chance game; it wouldn't lead anywhere. They walked in silence until they reached the village, freezing on the spot as they heard steps. They looked at each other before quickly going to hide in opposite directions. Chopper jumped in to the pushes and crouched down while Kaya went to hide behind a corner of a house.

They saw Marco (boy number 24) coming towards them and carrying a shovel, warily looking around himself as he walked. The usual bored look was gone, replaced by nervous, calculating eyes.

About ten meters away Kaya swallowed, gripping her gun tighter. Had he seen them? No, probably not, he would have said something, right?

Marco walked past the house Kaya was leaning against. If he turned around he's see her. Gladly he didn't, but he did something that made Kaya panic almost as much.

He was unknowingly going straight towards Chopper. Panicking, Kaya opened the fire, hitting a tree right past Marco. The man spun around, coming face to face with now tear faced Kaya.

"Aren't you-"he couldn't finish as Kaya fired again, but missed him. Marco thought about attacking her to take the gun, but dismissed the idea since when he moved just an inch Kaya fired again. He turned around and run to the direction Kaya and Chopper had come from, dropping the shovel in the process. Kaya fired a few more times until she was sure that he was gone.

"Kaya?" Chopper asked carefully, slowly getting out of the bushes, fearing that she'd try to shoot at him.

"I-I wasn't trying to kill him" Kaya stuttered "I just panicked and wanted him to g-go away."

"It's okay; he got out alive" Chopper told, trying to calm her down. He couldn't say that Marco had gotten hit... he just hoped it wasn't fatal.

XXXXX

Bon Clay (boy number 26) was in west and had just left the village. He walked fast but quietly, gripping tightly on his handgun. He was nervous, but not really that scared, He had always been called crazy, which he now realized he was since he didn't feel fear. He didn't really have many friends and the fact that he was a queer might have something do with it. He did, however, have one good friend in the school, and that was the person he was looking for now.

"_Stay alive, Mugi-chan, at least until I get there" _Bon Clay smiled almost always, but that didn't mean he was happy 24/7. However, when the first year students had come to their school this year, his reasons for going to school had changed. Sure he had some people he hanged with even before that, but this one boy was someone he'd call a friend any time. After hearing steps he stopped, pointing the gun at the direction the sound came from. He saw a girl, but didn't remember her name. She stopped as she noticed him, but didn't run away, which would have been foolish anyway since Bon Clay could have shot her at any moment.

"Are you going to shoot?"The green haired girl asked after a moment of silence. Bon Clay, instead of answering, asked his own question: "Where's your weapon?"

The girl looked down, muttering: "I lost it while I was running away; I didn't look over my shoulder to see who was chasing me so I don't know who it was."

Bon Clay stood still for a moment longer before lowering the gun.

"What was your name again?" Bon Clay asked, knowing that she was from the second year, but not remembering her name.

"Boa Sandersonia" Sandersonia (girl number 6) replied, brushing her hair away from her face.

"Have you seen Mugi-chan?"

"Who?" Sandersonia asked. Sure she didn't remember the names of everyone in their school, but if there was someone by that name she should have at least one memory of it.

"You don't know?" Bon Clay asked, starting to spin around "Luffy of course, the Monkey!"

Sandersonia felt disgusted, by both his little dance show and the nickname he had given to the straw hat wearing boy, the one her sister was in love with.

"_I wonder if her love for him is strong enough to handle this place, tough" _she thought, wondering if Hancock (girl number 28) would be able to trust her crush in this place.

"No, I haven't really seen anyone" she replied "Expect the one that was chasing me, of course."

"Damn" Bon Clay said in frustration, having not seen anyone either. If Sonia had had seen someone, he could have gone to look for that one and ask for information.

"Have you eaten breakfast yet?" Sonia asked suddenly.

"Huh? No, I haven't"

"Should we eat together?" Sonia asked, taking few apples out of her bag "I found an apple tree about an hour ago and took these."

"Wow, thanks! You're much better person than I thought" Bon Clay said, taking the apple that was the brightest shade of red. Munching on it happily he failed to notice the smirk on Sandersonia's face. It didn't take long after the first bite that he started to feel weird. Then, little by little, breathing became harder for him. Finally realizing it wasn't natural, he looked at the apple and then at Sonia, finally noticing her smirk.

"What did you do to me?" he asked, sinking on to his knees.

"Poison" was all she said, watching as the young man struggled to breath. When he finally lost his consciousness, soon losing his life, Sandersonia took out her weapon: a bottle of poison. She hadn't lost it; she hadn't even been chased. He had believed it all thought. She put it back and took Bon Clay's gun as well as his bullets from his bag. After that she left to look for her next victim.

XXXXX

Nico Robin (girl number 4) sat in the middle of the bushes, examining her weapon. She was lucky for she had gotten one of the two machine guns that the bags had. However, even when she was looking at the gun her mind was elsewhere. She looked at her bag, the one she took to school every day. She did have one drug syringe, which would help to her discomfort for sure, but there was only one; she couldn't waste it. And if she took it now concentrating would get harder and she could easily make a fatal mistake, such as be seen, and die. She didn't want to die, not like this.

"_But it's not like I have anything to live for either..." _Robin thought with a sigh. Her family was dead, the only friends she had had died long time ago and she hadn't made any new ones after that. Her caretaker didn't really like her either; he just gave her food and a roof over her head out of responsibility. Now that she thought about it there was no one she cared for or who would have cared for her; she was all alone and yet there was one thing that had kept pushing her forward for years, one thing to live for. She wanted to survive, she _needed _to survive. But how could she? The winner would survive, but would she have the guts to kill anyone? Yes, she probably would, at least if they threatened her life, but was she strong enough? She was smart, but didn't have much psychical strength and the withdrawal effects from the drugs didn't help at all. Tears started to form in her ice blue eyes, falling down her face as she forced her eyes shut.

"_I can't do this" _she thought, curling up in to a ball _"Mother... Saulo... help me."_

XXXXX

Nojiko (girl number 17) walked slowly towards east, looking around wearily. She had heard gunshots and even when her instincts told her to run; she kept walking to the direction where the shots had come from. She just couldn't shake off the feeling that her sister might have been in the middle of the shots.

"_And even if she wasn't I have to find her" _she thought, gripping the hammer in her hand tighter. Her personal weapon sure could have been better. Nojiko stiffened as she saw someone crouched down on the ground straight ahead. The guy's name was Marco if she remembered right; his pineapple like hairstyle was unmistakable. Nojiko considered turning around and going back the way she came from, but something held her back.

"_Ugh, why am I such a good person?" _she thought as she silently walked towards Marco, having realized on the first glance that he had been hurt. She had to be careful tough; if he had a gun and he was playing she was in big trouble. The rustling bushes were enough to alert Marco, who jumped up in a fighting stance.

"That would look more threatening if you actually had a weapon and not blood dripping from your side" Nojiko couldn't help but tell him. Marco eyed the hammer in her hand, feeling that he could take her down if he had to. He just needed to be careful and not let her too close "What happened?"

"I don't think that's any of your business, yoi" Marco said, holding his side with his hand to prevent it from bleeding.

"I heard the gunshots" Nojiko told, asking "Who shot you?"

Marco stayed silent, trying to decide if he should tell her or not. In the end he saw no harm in it so he told her: "That blond from the first year; the one in the science club."

Nojiko's eyes widened; it couldn't be true. Kaya, the only girl in science club, was a very gentle, sweet and shy girl. There was no way she could have shot at someone!

"You're lying" Nojiko stated, it was no question "Tell me the truth!"

"That is the truth" Marco said warily. Nojiko looked like she could charge at him at any moment now.

"Liar... liar!" she screamed. It was all too much for her; she couldn't believe that even someone as kind as Kaya would be taken over by the game. Instead of attacking him like Marco had thought she would, she turned around and ran away from him as fast she could. Marco sighed, dropping on to his knees. He could have used some help but if she was so unstable it was safer to let her go. However, he had to find someone since he couldn't take the bullet out on his own. He looked down at the wound, not liking how the grey fabric of his jacket had been stained red. He had to stay on move thought; the gunshots might have attracted other people and he'd rather see them before they saw him. Had Nojiko had a gun he'd probably be dead by now.

Wondering what direction he should go in, Marco took out his map. He was in H11, which was close to G11 that had become a forbidden zone an hour ago. He had to be careful to not wander there.

XXXXX

Trafalgar Law (boy number 12) was walking in the northern beaches of the island. If anyone saw him they'd think he was being unnaturally calm because of his 100 percent sure poker face. It's not like he was a wreck or anything, but the situation did make him nervous, too. He glanced at his weapon, a big sword, nodachi, which he was holding against his shoulder. He would have actually preferred something smaller, something that was easier to hide, but he wasn't about to complain. After all, he could have gotten something entirely useless, too. Right now he was wondering what to do if he ran in to someone. Law was a sadist, he had no problem admitting that, but he didn't see himself as a killer. However, if someone attacked him he believed that he'd have no problem to kill the attacker as self defense. So, who could he trust? Obviously not Lucci (boy number 13) or his friends, Crocodile (boy number 9) and Daz (boy number 10) were out, too. All the girls were out; even if some of them were cowards, they wouldn't trust him and might stab him in the back.

"_Actually most of the others don't trust me; I can easily imagine all of them stabbing my back" _he thought with a sigh. He was well mannered and got along all right with almost everyone, but he didn't really have friends.

"_Straw Hat-ya would trust me tough; he trusts everyone" _Law realized, remembering the hyperactive boy. He'd never tell it to anyone, but he saw him as a friend. A friend whose head he'd like to push through the wall from time to time because of his stupidity, but still a friend. His friends didn't trust Law, tough... well maybe Chopper did; after all they were both in the science club and Law knew he admired him.

Law heard something behind him, but decided to ignore it for now. He knew someone was following him. He adjusted his hold on his weapon a little bit, but didn't give any other sign of noticing the follower. Now that he focused he could hear the faint steps of the person following him.

"_He or she is probably playing, but if that's the case he doesn't have a gun; if he did I would have been shot already" _Law thought, deciding to end this little game before it fully even started. He wouldn't allow himself to be killed. Noticing a rock he sat down against it, closing his eyes. If his stalker was playing he'd strike soon, not knowing that Law was setting up a trap. The person came closer, but no words were said. Now Law was sure that whoever it was, he was playing. Something blocked the sun from Law's face, telling him that the person was in front of him. Opening his eyes, Law swung the nodachi that had been leaning against the rock next to his head. He heard a scream of pain and surprise, obviously from a woman, before feeling stinging pain on his right arm himself. One look at the said arm explained the situation to him.

"_Acid" _he thought, turning to look at the attacker who now had a huge gash on her stomach. It was Boa Marigold (girl number 2), the huge orange haired girl from the second year. People said she had muscle, but to Law it looked more like fat. Normally Law might have just left her there to suffer, but the pain in his right arm made him pissed. She was going to pay. Law took his nodachi, moving it to Marigold's throat. His arm hurt, which is why he didn't have time to play, so he just slit Marigold's throat open before she could even scream again.

XXXXX

Sabo (boy number 19) traveled North East along a road, holding a tracking device that was his personal weapon. According to the instructions the device picked up the signal from their collars as long as they were close enough. It was fine with Sabo though; he had managed to find a tall metal pipe from the school grounds before leaving and used it as a weapon, not that he had really used it against anyone yet. He checked the tracker again, but it didn't show anyone nearby; he was still alone. One might wonder why he just kept walking forward out in the open while it would be much safer to be in the woods, but Sabo didn't really have a reason. He had to go in some direction to look for his friends and he just happened to choose North East. He glanced at his phone to see what time it was, realizing that the next announcement would be in half an hour. He just hoped that none of those three people he was looking for especially wouldn't be mentioned.

Eleven and half hours of the game gone

51 students remaining

**A.N: I forgot to put that how many students were remaining last time, but I try to remember it from now on. Also, I'll try to make every chapter about 4000 words long from now on, but they might be shorter (or longer like this one) if I find a good spot to stop at. I'll probably use more flashbacks too to tell you more about everyone since this is an AU story after all.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Promise**

"_Afternoon young warriors!" _Doflamingo chirped as the clock hit 12 am _"You've done a bit better this time; three people dead!"_

Tony Tony Chopper (boy number 3) and Kaya (girl number 3) sit still on the floor of one house, their maps already out to mark the forbidden zones. Chopper could only hope one of the dead weren't Marco who had gotten hit because of Kaya.

"_First the men: Boy number 4, Helmeppo and number 26, Bon Clay" _Chopper clenched his fists; Bon Clay was a good friend of Luffy, he would be sad. Luckily Marco wasn't among them tough.

"_As for the girls, there's only one this time: Girl number 2, Boa Marigold." _Chopper gulped; he had left just after her; it could have been him!

"_As for the forbidden zones, I 7 from 1 pm, B 14 from 3 pm and H 11 from 5 pm. Have a nice day!" _both Chopper and Kaya marked the forbidden zones, clad that they weren't in one at the moment. Seeing Kaya yawning made it obvious to Chopper what they should do next.

"Go to sleep Kaya; we've been awake _and _stressed for twelve hours straight; it doesn't do us any good" he told, making Kaya frown "But what about you?"

"I'm completely fine" he lied, wanting to look strong in front of Kaya. If he could be like everything was fine Kaya would be calmer too.

XXXXX

"_Shit"_ Kohza (boy number 21) thought as he hid in the bushes from a blond girl known as Sadi-Chan (girl number 26.) She had a reputation of a sadist, and not for nothing Kohza knew, so he'd rather not face her. He wasn't really scared tough, he could see that she had a whip and he himself was holding a rifle. If they'd fight he'd win; he knew how to use this thing.

"_I don't want to kill but if someone attacks..." _Kohza thought, clenching his hands in to tight fists. He'd survive for long enough to find his girlfriend and their best friend no matter what it would take.

"_He doesn't seem to be playing" _Sadi-Chan thought, carefully glancing at the bushes over her shoulder. She had seen Kohza hide in the bushes, but she'd also seen what kind of weapon he had _"Not worth the risk; I'll just find someone else."_

XXXXX

"_Stay calm, stay calm..."_ Tashigi (girl number 18) chanted in her head, tightly gripping on to the sword that was her weapon as she tried to force herself to calm down. She stood against a tree, carefully glancing at the silent man from the third year, Daz Bones (boy number 10.) He didn't seem to have noticed her yet.

"_Why am I so afraid? We go to the same school..." _Tashigi wondered suddenly. What reason did she have to be so afraid? Daz didn't exactly have the best reputation around, but the little she'd seen he always behaved in the classroom.

"_But he and Roronoa beat each other in to bloody mess when the school started this year" _Tashigi thought, wincing at the memory. She didn't know what had started the fight, but she knew there had been a lot of blood. Don't get her wrong; Tashigi didn't freak out at the sight of blood, but that amount would have upset any sane person. Daz was also a friend of Crocodile (boy number 9); one of the most threatening guys in their school. He wasn't a trouble maker in the traditional sense of word, for he always managed to do everything from cheating in tests to beating up others without getting caught. Not that the teachers were completely obvious, they just never found any evidence.

"_It's because of guys like them that our school got chosen in to this game" _Tashigi thought, but quickly shook her head. No, it wasn't their fault. They might be delinquents but no one deserved a fate like this.

"_How can this be...? World Government is said to be the most civilized country in the world; I can't even imagine how badly things are in the other countries!" _Tashigi thought. Naturally she didn't know how much lies the World Government told about the other countries. World Government did have slightly better technology than other countries, but in the end it was doing poorly when compared to them. People outside the World Government were free to speak their mind and criticize the government, things that usually led to an execution in the World Government. Tashigi sighed, looking over at Daz again, paling as she realized he was looking straight at her.

"_Oh no-!" _Tashigi coughed up blood the second she noticed Daz looking at her, feeling pain in her back and stomach. She looked down at her stomach with wide eyes, seeing a golden hook going through it. Her hands went up to the wound, trying to keep the blood from coming out without touching the hook.

"Pathetic" she heard from behind her, realizing that the voice belonged to Crocodile. She managed to look over her shoulder, seeing the smirk under the scar on his face. She knew that Daz was coming towards them and became sure it had been a trap; Daz had known she was there all along. He had gotten her attention completely so that Crocodile could easily sneak up behind her.

"_I'm such a fool" _Tashigi thought, refusing to let the tears fall. She wouldn't give them such a satisfaction. However, she did scream when Crocodile pulled the hook out of her stomach, kicking her legs from under her so that she hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Pathetic" Crocodile said, kicking Tashigi's back "She should've been more aware of her surroundings, don't you think so Daz?"

Taking out a sheath knife Daz asked: "Should I put an end to her miserable life?"

"Why hurry?" Crocodile asked, looking down at the woman who was glaring at him despite all the pain "Let her enjoy the pain; in this place she'll die sooner or later anyway."

As Tashigi watched the two boys walk away she could only think of one thing.

"_I can't die here... not before I've proven him..."_

_Flashback:_

"_Don't run away, Roronoa! Fight me!" Tashigi yelled, walking after the green haired man who tried his best to ignore her. When she didn't give up, Roronoa Zoro (boy number 18) turned around, saying: "I'm not gonna fight with you, Copycat woman, so get lost!"_

"_I won't leave you alone before you duel me!" Tashigi hissed, adding: "And don't call me that!"_

"_I can call you whatever I want!" Zoro yelled back, breaking in to run. He didn't have time to deal with her._

"_Get back here!"Tashigi yelled, running after him. She wasn't fast enough to catch up with him tough._

"One day I'll show him" _Tashigi thought _"One day I'll prove that women are just as good as men!"

_Flashback_

"_I'm not going to die now" _Tashigi thought, struggling to get up _"I'll show you, Roronoa!"_

XXXXX

"Guys" Ace (boy number 8) said, getting the attention of his friend and little brother "I think we should head to a village."

"Why?" Vivi (girl number 8) asked "Wouldn't it be safer to stay where we are? We won't be seen as easily here in the woods."

"True, but I think we should find others" Ace reasoned, adding: "They'll most likely go to the villages as well."

"But some people are playing and they probably think that too, so..." Vivi trailed off, making Ace's eyes widen. She was right; the ones playing probably headed to the villages. Ace wasn't really afraid; he was ready to take the risk, but he could see Vivi wasn't and now that he thought about it he didn't want to put her and Luffy (boy number 7) in danger.

"Alright; let's do this: I'll go look for others while you two stay here" Ace said, earning loud protests from the other two.

"No way!" Luffy said "I'm bored; I wanna come too!"

"You can't go alone; it's too dangerous!" Vivi protested.

"Then what should I do!? Sit still and wait for all of us to die!?" Ace yelled, suddenly feeling pain on his cheek. It came so fast and unexpectedly that he had no time to react. Luffy looked at him in shock as he touched his cheek, staring Vivi's outstretched hand.

"Don't say that" she whispered "None of us are going to die; the three of us will survive!"

Ace didn't say anything, still too shocked to do so. Vivi was always kind and gentle; judging all violence no matter what and yet, she had just slapped him. The game set even someone like Vivi on the edge.

"Right, sorry..." Ace muttered "But I've never been good at sitting around and just waiting; I don't know what I should do."

"Well its 1:30 now... how about we wait until the next announcement before we do anything at all? Maybe some of our friends even find us before that." Vivi suggested, earning a nod from Ace "I suppose that's an okay idea."

"So we'll stay here? That's bo-"

"Luffy" Ace cut him off sternly "The situation is serious, so _shut it_."

XXXXX

Camie (girl number 5) held tightly on her chain saw, crouching down behind a tree. She hadn't seen anyone, but she heard steps; someone was coming her way. She was scared and didn't want to use her weapon, not that she knew how to use it in the first place. She had already decided that if the person was one of the meaner guys she'd ran if she was seen. She wouldn't stay and try to talk; she didn't have the courage to do so.

"_Turn the other direction... don't come here, don't come here..." _Camie chanted in her head, closing her eyes. She knew she shouldn't, but she was just too scared. She could be dead soon. The steps came closer and closer. When Camie felt a hand touch her shoulder she was about to scream in surprise and fear, but a hand covered her mouth.

"Quiet Camie, it's me!" hissed Shirley (girl number 16), holding her personal weapon, a sai. Camie opened her eyes, coming face to face with her black haired friend.

"Shirley?" Camie asked quietly after removing the hand from her face.

"Yeah, it's me" Shirley said with a small smile, kneeling in front of Camie "Everything's going to be alright."

Tears fell down Camie's face. She took a hold of Shirley's blouse, crying in to her shoulder.

"Ishilly's dead... and not just her... i-is everyone going to-"

"Camie, stop it" Shirley cut her off "We'll be fine; trust me."

Camie looked up after wiping her eyes.

"But-"

"No buts Camie" Shirley said "We're smart and our weapons are okay; we have good chances for survival."

"B-but only one can survive and I d-don't want to kill anyone" Camie stuttered, making Shirley smile at her sadly.

"We don't necessarily need to" she said "If we find someone who can come up with an escape plan."

Camie's face brightened as she came up with an idea.

"Like Frankychi!" she said, thinking for a moment "Zorochi and Namichi are smart too!"

"Exactly" Shirley said. She didn't really know the three so well, but they were Camie's friends so she supposed they could try to find them. She just hoped that they weren't playing... and that they would trust them.

XXXXX

Kiwi (girl number 23) ran, hoping she had lost her pursuers. She was still in the village closest to the school and would get out of there soon if she kept going. She stopped to catch her breath and looked over her shoulder, but there was no one in sight.

"_I'm alone... good, I managed to lose the-"_Suddenly Kiwi felt piercing pain on her throat _"Wha-what?"_

Lucky for her the pain only lasted for few seconds as her head fell off, blood gushing out of her throat right on the jacket of her killer, Rob Lucci (boy number 13.)

"This sword sure does cut well" Lucci muttered, inspecting the bright red blood on the sword.

"That's nice, but do you mind giving it back now?"Kaku (boy number 14) asked, crossing his arms. Lucci had insisted using Kaku's swords unless the victim had a gun. He said it was funnier that way "And you better let me kill the next one."

Lucci threw the sword back but otherwise ignored his companion as he kneeled down to take Kiwi´s weapon, a scalpel. It was alright; he could use it in sneak attacks.

"Swords need to be cleaned after being stained by blood, you know" Kaku said, wiping the sword with a tissue "Otherwise it might get rusty."

"We'll head west in to the woods. If we don't find anyone we go south to the village" Lucci said, pocketing the scalpel and taking out his machine gun.

"Wouldn't it be faster to go directly to the village?" Kaku suggested, checking his sword for more stains.

"It would, but we're not in a hurry" Lucci said "If you're starting to chicken out I can just kill you right here."

"Nah, I'm just lazy" Kaku said with a slight smirk "Are we going right away or will we rest for a while?"

"We can rest" Lucci said, sitting down against a tree "It's only a little past 3 pm; the first day isn't even nearly over, we have plenty of time."

XXXXX

Spandam (boy number 2) is in a village, near the forbidden zone H4. He had broken in to a house and was currently resting, planning his next move. He wasn't as afraid as one would expect; after all he firmly believed that he'd win.

"_Dad said I'll win... Lucci, Kaku and Kalifa will definitely help me" _Spandam thought. The three had done countless dirty jobs for him in exchange for money; surely they'd do it now too _"I'll just say that I found a way to get all four of us out of here so I don't need to worry about them killing me and when everyone else's dead I'll get rid of them; they won't even know what hit them!"_

To Spandam his plan was perfect. He had made a list of all the students, crossing over the names of the dead ones.

"_I can use Kaku, Lucci and Kalifa... possibly someone else as well if I choose my words carefully enough. Iceburg and that Franky are definitely out of question, tough."_ Spandam thought. He argued with Franky and Iceburg, mainly the later since he had a lot larger vocabulary than the first, a lot. The World Government was the most successful state in the world, but Iceburg just wouldn't understand it.

"_Our school is full of idiots that don't get it" _Spandam thought. There was one person in their school who respected their home country even more than he did, and that woman did get on his nerves even when he did agree with her.

"_Hmm... Portgas, Traflgar and Eustass are definitely dangerous, as is Roronoa... there are many people I should avoid, but Kaku and Lucci can handle them." _Spandam thought. He knew that Zoro was slightly stronger than Kaku, but that didn't matter as long as he had Lucci, who was the strongest of all.

"_I need to be aware of Nico Robin as well; it's highly likely that she's a cold blooded killer" _Spandam thought, knowing one thing about the raven haired woman that he was sure no one else did _"Hopefully she and the other bothers got useless weapons."_

XXXXX

Alphelandra (girl number 14) was in a small village in south. After killing Domino (girl number 27) she had run to west to the woods, but after seeing Yosaku (boy number 5) and Johnny (boy number 6) she had freaked out and run south to the village, not knowing if they'd seen her or not. She had already killed a person; she couldn't go near anyone, fearing she'd accidentally kill them too.

"_I must put an end to this before anyone else dies by my hand" _Alphelandra thought. She was sitting at a desk in the small storage she was in, writing a goodbye letter. She shed a few tears, thinking that if she hadn't killed Domino things might have been better already. She might have found her friends Margaret (girl number 10) and Sweetpea (girl number 20), she might have saved someone's life, she might have been able to do _something _but no, it was all over for her now. Finishing the letter she left it on the table in plain sight, hoping someone would find it at some point and know of her mistakes. That was all she could do.

"_No, not all" _she thought, picking up a long rope she'd found earlier _"There is still one thing I can do."_

She walked behind a wall that separated the two "rooms." Climbing on a chair she tied the rope on the ceiling, tugging at it to make sure the knot was tight enough. After that she put the rope around her neck, kicking the chair away from her feet.

"_Goodbye, everyone"_

XXXXX

Coby (boy number 1) and Zoro walked along the road towards the village, wearily looking around as they walked. They hadn't seen anyone else so far, but you could never know when someone came out of the bushes. Speaking of which...

"Coby stop, I can hear something" Coby stops in his tracks, looking over his shoulder at Zoro. He's about to ask what Zoro heard, but the swordsman put a finger in front of his mouth, silently walking over to his friend. He narrowed his eyes, his hand going to rest on his swords. Someone was coming. His angry, waiting expression turned in to one of annoyance when he saw who it was.

"Not _you, _copycat woman" he groaned in annoyance. When Tashigi didn't answer to his taunt he got a feeling that something was wrong and badly.

"Roronoa... fight me" she said, holding her sword with both hands. Coby, putting his hands up in the mark of surrender, said: "H-hold on, Tashigi-san, we don't need to-"

"Damn it Roronoa, fight me!" Tashigi yelled, taking few steps forward. The guys couldn't help but notice that she was swinging from side to side when walking. Zoro looked down at Tashigi's upper body, noticing that she had ripped apart her grey blouse and tied the pieces around herself.

"_Oi oi, don't tell me that-"_

"Tashigi-san!" Coby yelled as Tashigi drops her sword and falls forward, face first on to the ground. The guys ran over to her and Zoro took her in to his arms, paling as he realized why she had tied her blouse around her body. She was heavily bleeding under it.

"Roronoa, fight me" Tashigi said, trying to get up but just ended up coughing blood.

"Tashigi-san!" Coby yelled, kneeling down next to them as he realized what was wrong "What happened to you!?"

"Oi, copycat woman, cut that out! You'll only make the wound bleed faster!" Zoro yelled, watching as the red substance stained the grey fabric.

"Roronoa"

"What?!" Zoro snapped, later realizing that he shouldn't have been so rude at the time.

"I think... this country... m-might not be s-so great a-after all" Tashigi muttered, coughing out blood after saying it.

"Took you long enough to get it" Zoro said back.

"Zoro-san!" Coby hissed at him "Tashigi-san, don't talk, you'll just wear yourself out. We'll get you help and-"

"No one's going to help Coby, think of where we are" Zoro interrupted him "And she might not survive even if she did get proper treatment."

"Zoro-sa-"

"He's ri- *cough* right Coby" Tashigi said "No one would help, not in this country... Roronoa?"

"What?" Zoro asked, this time without snapping at her.

"Why... did you never fight me?" Zoro closed his eyes for a while before answering: "You look too much like my deceased friend I couldn't beat. You and she... are very similar in many ways."

"I see..." Tashigi said, coughing blood again.

"Tashigi-san, don't spea-"

"Coby" Tashigi said firmly despite the state she was in, making Coby pause "I know you... admire this country and its leaders. I di-did too, but it seems they're no-not worth it, so *cough* so promise me, b-both... of you, that you give all of them a big blow to their e-e-ego. Make sure at least t-two pe-people survive from this."

"We promise" Zoro said without blinking an eye, shocking Coby "Don't look at me like that, Coby. We can do it."

Tashigi smiled, making Zoro realize she'd never smiled at him before.

"Thank you"

After that she slipped away to eternal darkness.

17 hours and fifty minutes of the game gone

48 students remaining

**A.N: Yeah, I know I said I'd try to make every chapter about 4000 words long, but I also said I could stop before it if I found a good place for it...**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: A Killer Among Us**

"_Good evening, my little killers" _Doflamingo's voice rang out at 6 pm _"You seem to like to keep the game going at steady pace; only three dead this time as well."_

"Crap, three people dead again?" Yosaku (boy number 5) said, taking out his map to mark the forbidden zones "Who died this time?"

"We'll see" Johnny said, also taking out his map "Aniki isn't among them tough."

"Of course not!" Yosaku said "If we're still alive so is aniki!"

"_And the dead, all of them girls, are girl number 14: Alphelandra, girl number 18: Tashigi and girl number 23: Kiwi." _Johnny and Yosaku let out gasps. The only female member of the kendo club, who was more or less their friend, was dead _"And the forbidden zones are A14 from 8pm and C2 from 10pm. Have fun!"_

"Yosaku?"

"Yeah?"

"What direction should we look for aniki from next?" Johnny asked. They were currently in the woods, and straight to south was H4, a forbidden zone, so that direction was out of question.

"North, I think" Yosaku said "We came from east, straight to south is a forbidden zone and in west the shoreline comes almost immediately."

"Right, north it is then"

XXXXX

"It's five past six" Ace (boy number 8) said "We haven't seen anyone; we should get moving and head to the village."

"I suppose we don't have any choice" Vivi (girl number 8) said "But how will we proceed? Should we go directly south west to the village?"

Ace shook his head, saying: "No, I think it'd be better to go south to the edge of the forest 'cause if I'm reading the map right we can see the road from there. We can follow that to the village."

Luffy (boy number 7), who'd been quiet until now, asked: "Can we go now? I'm bored"

"Yeah, we can go" Ace said "But Luffy, from now on it's extremely important that you do exactly what I say and, even more important, stay quiet."

"But-"

"Shhh!" Ace hissed, not wanting his little brother to give away their location "Luffy, the situation is serious."

"I know" Luffy said with a grin, making Ace sigh. No, he didn't know... well he did but he didn't seem to understand _how _serious the situation was. If he'd see a body like Ace had he'd probably understand, but then again Luffy was naïve by nature... making him realize the situation would take time. Time that they didn't really have.

"Alright, let's go" but when Ace said this and tried to get up to leave, he suddenly fell face first on the ground.

"Ace-san, what happened!?" Vivi yelled in panic, covering her mouth afterwards. They couldn't let anyone hear them.

"I think he fell asleep" Luffy pointed out, turning Ace around. He had been right; Ace's narcolepsy had kicked in again.

"What do we do now? We can't leave Ace alone" Vivi asked, sitting down next to the freckles faced man.

"I'll go look for someone" Luffy said, making Vivi's face go pale.

"Don't" she said, taking his wrist "It's too dangerous to be alone and it's going to be dark soon; you might be attacked without even noticing it!"

"I'll be fine" Luffy said, but Vivi didn't let go. She just looked at her friend with teary eyes.

"Oi Vivi, let go"

"No" she said, tightening her grip "I won't let go; you're not going anywhere alone."

"But it's boring here" Luffy said. For a moment neither of them said anything, like they were in a staring contest, but then Vivi lowered her gaze "Please, Luffy, let's wait until Ace wakes up."

"Okay" Luffy said with a sigh, sitting down. There was no use in starting to argue with Vivi now and besides, Ace would probably wake up soon enough.

XXXXX

"It's done" said Coby (boy number 1), wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Ah" replied Zoro (boy number 18), wiping his dirty hands on his pants. He walked over to the dead body of Tashigi (girl number 18), picking her up. He went over to the pit he and Coby had dug, lowering Tashigi's body in it.

"Her sword" Coby said, handing the weapon to Zoro who put it in the woman's hands. They started shoveling the dirt with their hands, burying the blue haired woman. After the pit was full they kept a silent moment to respect the dead before Zoro opened his eyes, saying: "Let's go."

As they walked away from the grave Coby asked: "Why didn't you want to put the sword to mark her grave like a cross?"

"Because I didn't want anyone to take it" Zoro replied, keeping his eyes focused ahead of him.

"...she didn't even tell us who did it to her" Coby realized while leading Zoro towards the village "We might run in to the killer without even realizing it."

"We can't do anything about it before we find someone, so don't worry about it now" Zoro said, still facing forward. Glancing at the swordsman Coby couldn't help but wonder what his friend was thinking. Wasn't he scared? If he was he certainly didn't look like it... did he have some kind of plan to get out alive?

"Coby" Zoro said, getting his attention "Concentrate on the moment; if you worry too much you'll just get paranoid."

"B-but we need to be careful, don't we?"

"Yeah, but panicking will only make things worse" Zoro told with a yawn "Let's keep going and rest when we get to the village."

XXXXX

"_Mari..." _Boa Hancock (girl number 28) thought, staring at the picture of her sister who had been killed _"I'll get there soon enough."_

She threw her bag over her shoulder and took her scythe, ready to look for someone to kill. At first she had planned to look for her sisters and find a way for all three of them to survive, but after she heard about Marigold's (girl number 2) death reality hit her. Escaping would be impossible and it was highly likely that she and Sandersonja (girl number 6) would die as well. When the game started she had decided to kill those who got in their way no matter who it was, even if it was her crush. The safety of her sisters had come first. However, now that Marigold was dead there was only one thing she could do.

She'd make sure Sandersonja becomes the winner.

XXXXX

"We're finally here, isn't it super?" Franky (boy number 15) asked, looking at his companion Iceburg (boy number 17.) They had finally gotten to the small lab near the mountains.

"Quiet down, idiot! We don't want to be heard." Iceburg hissed, taking out his weapon, a dagger "First we need to make sure that no one else is here."

"Yeah yeah" Franky said with a sigh "Being killed now wouldn't be super at all."

"Take things seriously for once" Iceburg muttered as they snuck in to the lab. They walked through both floors of the building, but no one was there. They were alone.

"Say, Bakaburg, how did you even know about a super place like this?" Franky asked, wiping dust from the sofa before sitting on it.

"You know who Dr. Vegapunk is?" when Franky nodded Iceburg continued "He used to live on this island and this is his old lab."

"Super..." Franky said. Dr. Vegapunk was a famous scientist who they both admired, it wouldn't be surprising if they found a way out from the game from this place "And that's why we came here."

"Ma~ that's right" Iceburg said, also sitting down "We should probably rest a little before we start looking for anything tough. I'll take the first watch and wake you up in three hours."

"Hey hey, who made you the boss?" Franky asked.

"I did" Iceburg simply said "Stop complaining and go to sleep."

"You're always bossing people around... not super at all..." Franky replied, but lay down on the sofa anyway, soon drifting to sleep.

XXXXX

Haruta (girl number 19) woke up to the sound of class breaking. She was in a house, hiding under a bed, so she thought that someone had broken a window to get inside the building.

"_I'll see who it is and what weapon he or she has before I come out from here..." _Haruta thought, pulling out her dagger. The sound came from so close that it had to be the window of the bedroom, right above the bed she was hiding under. She saw the mattress go down as weight, most likely a person, came on it. The person sat still for a moment, but dropped his legs over the side of the bed, making Haruta realize it was a guy since all the girls wore skirts.

"_Let's see... when he broke the window he made a loud sound, so it's definitely not Marco or Izou; they wouldn't be so careless and it's probably not Ace either... gotta stay hidden until I know who it is." _Haruta decided. Ace, Marco (boy number 24) and Izou (boy number 20) were friends of hers, friends she knew she could trust, but she wasn't sure about anyone else _"Well maybe Ace's brother Luffy would be okay; that guy's simply too stupid to even think of killing someone."_

She narrowed her eyes as the guy got off of the bed. She didn't know anyone that well besides her friends, but she could name a few guys who this one couldn't be by the way he walked. On top of that his feet were small; it definitely ruled out Franky.

"_Those shoes look expensive... he could be that friend of Ace or that guy's snob little brother" _Haruta thought. The older one, Sabo (boy number 19) was a friend of Ace, so he had to have some aces up his sleeves but the younger one, Stelly (boy number 23) shouldn't be any problem.

"_If it really is one of those two... and even if it's the snob, he might have a gun. I'm not going against that!" _she gritted her teeth, hoping that she'd soon be able to see what kind of weapon the guy had. Unfortunately she couldn't see it as the guy left the bedroom behind, making Haruta curse silently.

"_Tsk, I suppose it would be safest to just leave the town behind" _she thought, carefully taking out her map and flashlight _"I suppose I'll head to east."_

XXXXX

Paula (girl number 25) crouches down behind a tree as she hears talking. There were people nearby, a girl and a boy, she could tell. She wasn't sure about the guy's, but the girl's voice definitely belonged to Nefertari Vivi. Making up her mind Paula slowly started to crawl towards the voices, staying down so that she wouldn't be seen.

"Vivi, I'm bored" Paula could see them now; the boy was definitely Monkey D. Luffy from the first year.

"It can't be helped Luffy; we can't leave yet" Vivi said with a sigh "You have to wait until Ace gets up."

"_Until Ace gets up?" _Paula wondered before seeing the man lying between the two. For a moment she thought he was dead, but then realized that he was probably asleep; why else would Vivi have talked about him getting up _"Unless she's trying to make him believe that Portgas is still alive."_

"But it's so boring" Luffy complained again, pouting "Can't I go look for the others?"

"Luffy, no" Vivi said, trying to get the point across but not to be to rude "Besides Ace will probably wake up soon."

"Fine" Luffy said, lying down. He was _so _bored.

"_It seems Portgas really is just sleeping" _Paula thought, narrowing her eyes _"I don't think I could kill the two of them, not to mention three if Portgas wakes up, but if I manage to separate them from each other... heh, this should work."_

"Did you hear that?" Vivi asked, looking to east with Luffy "Someone's coming."

Paula could see them clearly but realized that she hadn't been seen yet despite being heard. Vivi looked fearful, but Luffy seemed just curious about who was approaching them as he asked: "Who's there?"

"It's me, Paula" Paula told, standing up with her hands held above her head. She couldn't let them suspect anything.

"Who?" Luffy asked, turning to Vivi as he didn't recognize the woman. Vivi, who knew well who she was, answered: "Paula from the third year, a friend of Crocodile (boy number 9) and Daz (boy number 10.)"

Paula resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course she'd say that... she liked to hang out with the "bad boys", so what? It didn't automatically make her a killer... yeah, not automatically.

"Oh yeah, her" Luffy said with a laugh "Have you seen Croc? Or anyone else, like Zoro?"

"I haven't seen anyone" Paula said. She could already tell that Luffy didn't suspect anything, but Vivi was a little suspicious "Uh... if you don't mind me asking, what happened to him?"

Vivi blinked before realizing what she meant.

"Oh, Ace is just sleeping; his narcolepsy kicked in again" she explained "Uh... Paula-san?"

"Yes?"

"Have you really not seen anyone?" Vivi asked. She'd had had few fights with the older girl in the past; she couldn't help but to doubt her words.

"No, not anyone" Paula told. At one point she had thought she heard steps, but there had been no one close, so she had probably just imagined it.

"Doesn't matter" Luffy said with a childish grin "You found us; I'm sure we'll find more people soon, right Vivi?"

"Yeah, I suppose so..." Vivi said. She knew where this was going and she didn't like it, but she couldn't really say no either "If you want you can stay with us; we're looking for others and a way out of here."

"Can I?" Paula asked inwardly smirking. They had fallen in to her trap "T-thanks, I suppose it'll be safer in a group."

"The more the merrier!" Luffy cheered, covering his mouth as the two girls shushed him. Vivi, despite smiling and accepting Paula in to the group, had a bad feeling. Something was about to happen, she could tell.

XXXXX

Marco gritted his teeth, holding the wound in his side. He hadn't gotten far because of his condition; in fact he believed that he was just barely out from a forbidden zone. After Nojiko (girl number 17) ran away he hadn't seen anyone, so the bullet hadn't been taken out yet.

"_I need to rest for a while... again" _he thought bitterly, sitting down middle of bushes. They didn't give him that much cover, but it was definitely better than nothing _"It'll get dark in few hours... I don't think I should move in the dark, not in this condition."_

Marco sighed. He was in pain, tired and hungry, but there was no way he'd go to sleep; it'd be way too dangerous.

"_Well, at least I can eat" _he thought, taking water and bread out of his bag. He didn't really have appetite, but he wasn't stupid enough not to eat either. As Marco munched on his food he kept his eyes and ears wide open, listening for any sound that was out of ordinary.

CRACK

"_It seems someone's here" _Marco thought, quickly hiding his belongings. If he had to he'd run and come back for the bag later; it'd only slow him down in this situation. He crouched down on to the ground, not sure if he had been seen yet or not. He wasn't going to take any risks.

"I-is someone there?" Marco realized that the person wasn't too dangerous; if he was he wouldn't be stupid enough to talk... however, Marco still didn't know who it was for he didn't recognize the voice.

"_Well it's not anyone from the third year, that much I can tell" _he thought, reminding himself that he still didn't know for sure if the guy was alone or not.

"Looks like I was just imagining things" Marco heard the guy say. He was in sight now, but because Marco was crouched down he could only see the younger man's legs. One thing made him worried tough: the guy was coming closer, straightly towards him.

"_This isn't my day yoi... what am I supposed to do if he sees me?" _Marco thought, regretting the fact that he had dropped the shovel in the village. He would have been able to cause some damage, or possibly even kill, with it in a surprise attack.

"_Did he see me?" _Marco thought as the guy suddenly stopped. He became sure he had been seen as the guy started, slowly but surely, to walk backwards.

"_He's running away... it would be easy to just let him do so, but I need to get rid of the bullet" _Making up his mind Marco sighed. He didn't know when he'd run in to someone again and then it might be too late; the bullet needed to be taken out now. Slowly but surely he got up, keeping his hands in view. He didn't know what weapon the other guy had so provoking him was out of question. Coming face to face with the other guy he recognized this immediately; that long nose was unmistakable.

"Yoi, aren't you Usopp from the first year?" he asked, not sure if he had remembered the name correctly.

"Ye-yeah" Usopp (boy number 11) said, pointing his weapon, a slingshot, at Marco "Wh-what do you w-want?"

Marco fought back a small chuckle; it seems he wasn't the only one who had gotten a bad weapon.

"I could use some help, yoi" Marco said "I got shot and can't take the bullet out on my own."

Usopp thought for a moment. Should he help him? Marco hadn't showed his weapon yet; he might pull it out and attack him when he was close enough.

"_And if he's really gotten shot he might try to kill me _after _I take out the bullet" _Usopp realized, still not lowering his slingshot _"What the hell should I do in a situation like th-"_

Before Usopp could even finish his thoughts Marco fell down on the ground, holding his side.

"He-hey, you okay?" Usopp asked, forgetting his suspicion for the time being as he walked over to the older man "What happened?"

"Nothing, it's just the bullet wound yoi." Marco said, lifting his shirt to check the wound. It had started bleeding again.

"How deep is the bullet in?" Usopp asked, making Marco shrug.

"No sure, but since it hasn't bled much it's not too deep... but deep enough for me not to get it out on my own" Usopp was crouching down next to Marco now, inspecting the wound. After a while he made up his mind, saying: "Agues I'll need to take it out."

"That would be appreciated" Marco said, surprised by Usopp's next question "Do you have any alcohol?"

"Excuse me, yoi?" Marco asked, blinking.

"Alcohol for disinfection" Usopp explained "You look like a guy who could bring some to school."

A vein popped on Marco's forehead. He looked like what now? Well, he did do it from time to time, but sadly he hadn't taken any with him when he went to school yesterday.

"That's not nice, yoi. And I don't have any" Marco replied. Usopp frowned, thinking that it couldn't be helped. He had to use some of his drinking water to wash his hands. After he did so Marco couldn't help but be amazed how easily Usopp got the bullet out with steady hands, almost like a professional.

"I'm pretty sure you weren't in the medical club, yoi" he put in, wondering where the long nose had learned it all. As Usopp wiped his hands he answered: "My dad's a huntsman; he used to take me hunting a lot when I was a kid. He taught me how to take a bullet out in case an accident happened" Usopp's face fell as he added: "I bet he never actually expected it to come to use, tough."

"I don't think anyone expected this" Marco said "If I had I would've drunken that sake bottle I was saving for something special..."

"It's not the time to worry about things like that!" Usopp yelled before he suddenly remembered "By the way, who shot you?"

"Are you sure you want to know, yoi? The truth might be pretty shocking" Marco said. The bullet was out, but he could still use some help, which he wouldn't get if Usopp thought he was lying about the shooter.

"I don't think anything can be shocking at this point" Usopp said, deciding to ignore the odd feeling he was starting to get "So, can you tell me?"

Marco sighed; he wouldn't get out of this one. He just hoped that Usopp would believe him unlike Nojiko or even if he didn't he wished he wouldn't leave.

"It was the blonde girl from the first year" Marco told. Usopp seemed to think for a moment and Marco thought that he was going to believe him, but then he asked: "You mean Conis? Isn't she in the second year?"

"I think we're talking about two different people, yoi" Marco said "I meant the one in the medical club."

"Kaya?" Usopp said before stopping to think. Kaya (girl number 3)? No way, she was the gentlest person he'd ever known; there was no way she'd shoot anyone.

"Yeah, I suppose that was her name" Marco said. The face Usopp was making made it clear to the blond that he didn't believe him so now the question was if he'd leave him on his own or not.

"A-are you sure it wasn't someone else? Kaya wouldn't shoot at anyone!" Usopp protested, clenching his fists. It couldn't be true!

"No, it was definitely her" Marco told with a sigh "She wasn't alone. I'm not 100 % sure who the other one was, but I think it was the short guy from the medical club, yoi."

The guy from the medical club? It could have been Trafalgar Law (boy number 12), but Marco said short, which Law definitely wasn't. But Chopper (boy number 3) was both short and in the medical club. It was very likely he was with Kaya, after all he had left just before her, but there was no way neither of them would shoot anyone.

"That's a lie" Usopp said, slowly shaking his head in disbelief. Marco sighed; he knew that this was coming "You're lying!"

"No, I'm telling the truth you're not willing to accept" Marco told "You can go ask her if you want; she's in the village straight ahead."

"What about you?" Usopp asked. He didn't believe what Marco said, but he was still a bit worried about the state the blonde was in. The wound might even be infected.

"I'll try to find Ace" Marco said, starting to get up "There's no use in sitting around on my own, yoi."

"Uh, well... try to stay alive" Usopp said "I'll go to try to find Kaya and Chopper so uh... bye."

"Farewell" Marco replied. While it was still possible that Usopp would survive he doubted it and as for himself... well he had the feeling he'd last few days at the most; he could tell he had a fewer.

XXXXX

"I'm bored" Luffy whined again. It was starting to get on Vivi and Paula's nerves.

"We know" Vivi said with a sigh "But we can't go anywhere yet Luffy; Ace's still sleeping."

"I could go look for others with him while you watch over Portgas" Paula said. Seeing the uncertain look on Vivi's face she added: "We won't go too far."

"Yosh, let's go!" Luffy cheered before Vivi had the chance to say anything. Seeing that she had lost the blue haired woman sighed, saying: "Alright, but be back in half an hour, okay?"

"Got it" Paula said, leaving with Luffy. Vivi smiled a little, looking at the still sleeping man. Everything was going to be alright.

XXXXX

Nico Robin (girl number 4) slowly got up from the ground, wiping her eyes. No more crying; she refused to shed more tears. She'd win, get out of here and continue her life normally; it's not like she'd lose any friends. People would look at her with disgust after the game, but there was nothing new in that.

_Flashback:_

_Robin walked down the halls of the school, ignoring the whispers and giggles of the other girls professionally. It was the first day of her third year in high school; she was completely used to this by now._

"_Isn't that the drug addict from your class, Ane-sama?"_

"_Yes, that's her. Once she..."_

_Robin kept on walking, keeping her face down and blank. Only one more year and she could leave this place. Slightly shaking her head to get rid of the thoughts she headed to the library, still having twenty minutes before the next class started. It was almost empty, having only a blond girl she didn't recognize and a blond guy from the second year in it... yes, the blonde guy, Sabo if she remembered correctly, was often seen in the library. Last year Robin caught him staring at her from time to time; it was really unnerving. If he had something to say he could just come and say it._

"He's at it again" _Robin thought as she noticed the blonde staring at her once again. Glaring at his direction Robin made it clear that she didn't like his behavior, making him quickly turn his head away. Sometimes she thought if she should teach him a lesson, but dismissed the idea. She didn't need more trouble than she already had and besides, sometimes he really creep her out. Glancing at the doorway she noticed few guys from the first year come to the library. Two were fighting with each other while the other three just laughed at them. Robin let out a small sigh, wishing that she could be like that one day as well, calmly laughing with friends._

_Like that would ever happen._

_Flashback_

"_There shouldn't be anyone too troublesome in the first year, save for the captain of the kendo club... the most dangerous ones are all in the third year" _Robin thought. In her head she made a list of the people she should avoid, hoping they'd kill each other. It was time to take the game seriously.

XXXXX

"We haven't seen anyone yet; this is boring" Luffy complained, forcing Paula to resist the urge to punch his face in.

"Well it's already past 10 pm; everyone's probably sleeping" Paula reasoned, glancing behind them. They were far enough; Vivi wouldn't hear anything if Luffy yelled. It was time to put her plan in to action.

"Hey, what's that?" Paula asked, pointing at something in front of a tree.

"What's what?" Luffy asked, walking over "I don't see anything."

"Look closely, it's there" Paula lied, taking out her personal weapon, a mace with spikes on it "Do you see it?"

"Nah, I don't see it" Luffy said, crouching down to get a better look. Paula held out the mace, ready to swing it down on Luffy's head. As she swung the mace a gunshot rang through the night.

22 hours and fourteen minutes of the game gone

48 students remaining

**A.N: Everyone loves cliffhangers, no?**


	7. Chapter 6

**A.N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while; I've had lot of things going on. In the end of May I graduated from vocational school (I was studying business) and I'll move away from my parents' house in the beginning of July... and I got to find a job, easier said than done when the economic situation is what it is. Anyway, enough of excuses, to the story! **

**Chapter 6: Bitter Realizations**

Luffy's (boy number 7) ears rang. The gunshot had come from somewhere really close. He turned around, seeing Paula (girl number 25) drop her mace as she held her bleeding shoulder in pain, causing some blood to fall on Luffy's face.

"Huh?" Luffy said, not understanding what had just happened.

"It is disgraceful to try to kill someone when their back is turned" a voice called out from behind a tree. Luffy and Paula turned to face the direction where the voice came from, both of them seeing Izou (boy number 20) from the third year. He was an odd person to say at least, always wearing makeup and dressing like a woman in his free time. Despite this he _did _look quite intimidating right now.

"Wh-what are you talking about? I didn't try to kill him!" Paula denied. The situation didn't look too good for her; in fact she firmly believed she was done for.

"Deny the truth all you want in hell" Izou said, preparing to fire the final shot, but stopped when Luffy got between them "What are you doing? Out of the way!"

"Aren't you Ace's friend?" Luffy asked, the shadow of his hat covering his eyes "Do you really think he'd accept you killing someone?"

Izou was surprised by the usually so cheerful boy, but soon regained his composure.

"I know he'd accept me saving the man he thinks as his little brother" he replied "Now move!"

"No" Luffy said stubbornly "Why do you want to kill her anyway?"

Izou's eyebrow twisted; he couldn't believe how stupid this guy was.

"Because she just tried to kill _you!_" he replied, pointing at the mace on the ground. Luffy blinked, asking: "She did?"

"Yes!"

"No I didn't!" Paula protested, seeing a small chance for her to survive "I just took the mace out because I heard something!"

"See? She's a good person" Luffy said with a grin, completely convinced by Paula's words.

"Last warning: move" was all Izou said. He was ready to take the risk of hurting Luffy in order to get rid of Paula.

"No way" Luffy replied, sticking his tongue out at Izou. As he saw the older man ready to pull the trigger he broke in to run, straight at the impatient third year student with the gun. He took a hold of the gun and Izou's wrist, yelling: "Run!"

Paula obeyed, picking up her weapon and bag before taking off. Luffy and Izou continued their struggle with the later winning, but the when he was finally able to push the younger man off Paula was already out of sight.

"Great, she got away" Izou said, but Luffy didn't catch the sarcasm in his voice.

"I knew you were a good guy" Luffy said with a laugh "Hey, have you seen anyone else yet?"

If looks could kill Luffy would be six feet under now; that's how mad Izou was. However, remembering who he was with and where he swallowed his anger, saying: "No¸ you and she were the first ones I saw." He considered it for a moment before asking: "Have _you _seen anyone else?"

"Yeah, I was with Ace and Vivi just a while ago" Luffy said, not even considering that it might not be a good idea to tell Izou this "Do you wanna come to see them?"

"I think that would be for the best" Izou said. He was suspicious by nature, but according to Ace Luffy wasn't capable of lying and because of the current events Izou wondered if the younger man wasn't capable of thinking either. As they walked Izou couldn't help but wonder why Ace had let his brother go alone with Paula. Was he wounded? If so, then how badly? A broken arm or something similar surely wouldn't keep Ace away from his brother in such a situation, right?

"Huh? They were here when I left" Luffy said, confusion written all over his face as he couldn't see his companions. Izou bit his lip, had something happened that had forced them to run away? Or did the shot he fired scare them off? ...No, that wasn't an option; Ace wouldn't leave his brother behind.

"Ace, Vivi, where are you?" Luffy called out, making Izou's face go pale "Not so loud, you idiot!"

"You're even louder than I am" Luffy pointed out, making Izou blush in embarrassment as he realized that Luffy was right. This game was really getting on him; it wasn't like him to be so careless.

"Where did they go?" Luffy wondered again. It was almost 11 pm; it was hard to see in the darkness "Vivi, answer if you can hear me!"

"I'm here!" Vivi finally called out, coming out of the bushes.

"What were you doing in there?" Luffy asked. Vivi bit her lip, worriedly eyeing Izou's gun. As he noticed this he tapped Luffy on the shoulder, giving the gun to him "Where's Paula-san?"

"She left, but I found the dress guy instead" Luffy told, earning yet another glare from Izou. Where did these nicknames come from? "Where's Ace?"

"I hid him in the bushes when I heard the gunshot" Vivi said "Uhh, Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Vivi said, nodding towards Izou, but Luffy didn't get the hint.

"If what is a good idea?" Luffy asked, confused.

"I'm not going to hurt anyone" Izou said when he saw that Luffy didn't even understand what Vivi was trying to say "And I'll leave after I've talked to Ace."

"Is he still sleeping?" Luffy asked. Vivi nodded, leading them to the bushes where the freckles faced man was "That idiot..."

Izou had realized that Ace's narcolepsy must've kicked in again.

"Who's an idiot?" Ace asked, sitting up "Hi Izou"

"You are" Izou replied with a sigh "Had a nice nap?"

"Yeah, but guys..."

"What?"

"Who the hell was stupid enough to hand Luffy a gun?" Ace asked, pointing at his brother. There was a moment of silence before Izou snatched the gun back "Much better. So, what are you doing here?"

"I just happened to run in to your brother while looking for you, Haruta and Marco" Izou told "I'm heading North, what about you guys?"

"We'll head to the village in south" Ace told "Wanna come with us? It'd be safer in a group."

"No thanks, I have to find those two" Izou said, yawning suddenly "And you already seem to have your own backups anyway."

"And you look like you're gonna fall asleep while standing" Ace said with a smirk. Izou shot him a glare, saying: "You're not one to talk."

"But Ace-san is right" Vivi said, getting their attention "You probably haven't slept since all this began and moving around on your own will make sleeping dangerous..."

"In other words you should stay here with us for a while and rest. We can leave in the morning" Ace reasoned "I'll keep watch first."

"And if you fall asleep?"

"I won't" Ace assured "I just slept for hours, didn't I? I won't fall asleep again so soon."

Izou wasn't really convinced by this; Ace had the habit of falling asleep in the weirdest moments.

"_But I'm too tired to care right now; I suppose I have to take the risk." _Izou decided with a sigh "Fine."

XXXXX

Sabo (boy number 19) cursed as he looked at his tracking devise. It had picked up a signal so he had decided to leave the road and go west to see who it was, but lady luck wasn't on his side today. The one he saw was no other than the queen of the third year, Boa Hancock (girl number 28)... or at least he was pretty sure from the silhouette he saw; it was so dark that he couldn't be completely sure.

"_But I'm so not going to call out for her; better safe than sorry" _Sabo reasoned. Hancock didn't really have the best reputation in the school _"I have to hide somewhere."_

He managed to crawl backwards in to a hole in a tree trunk, never taking his eyes off of Hancock, or what he thought was her _"This can't get any worse."_

"_Good evening, my little warriors!"_

"_...never mind" _Sabo thought, focusing on listening to Doflamingo's announcement _"I'm very disappointed in you all; no one died."_

Sabo couldn't help himself as he smirked; at least there was something good.

"_So, to the forbidden zones: E7 from 1 am, B4 from 3 am and C6 from 5 am. Have fun!"_

"_C6? That's right here! Well, it's safe until 5 am; I'm not in hurry" _Sabo thought. Right now he had to trust his memory and write the forbidden zones down later; if he lit the flashlight Hancock might notice. Luckily she seemed to be leaving already. Sabo decided to wait five minutes before coming out, just to be sure. But when the five minutes had passed by he noticed something.

He was completely stuck.

"_Fuck my life"_

XXXXX

Jewelry Bonney (girl number 21) munched on her piece of bread, frustrated. She hadn't seen anyone yet and that annoyed her. In this point anyone would have been fine.

"Is that you, Bonney-chan?"

...well, almost anyone.

"Yes it is, now get lost" Bonney said, putting what was left of her bread back to her bag. She didn't want to drop it in case she had to run. The blond boy, Sanji (boy number 28) held his hands in front of him as a sign of surrender, saying: "I'm not going to hurt you, Bonney-chan."

"Yeah, 'cause I'm leaving" Bonney said, standing up. Even that one idiot from the kendo club would've been better; she didn't trust this womanizer.

"Wait!" Sanji called out, trying to grab her arm, but she managed to pull it away "Don't touch me, asshole!"

Sanji, wanting to help Bonney, tried to get a hold of her again, this time with success. However he soon realized it to be a mistake as Bonney took out her weapon, a pair of chopsticks, and stabbed his arm with them. Now, normal chopsticks aren't really that sharp, but when you stab someone's arm with them with your full power, they can pierce flesh. That's what Sanji learned as the two sticks stuck out of his arm. Screaming in pain, he let go of Bonney and the girl took the chance to get away. He held his arm, watching as the pink haired girl run. If he went now he could still catch her, but decided against it. She was dangerous, and he already had one lady to protect.

"_I can't take the risk of going down here; I have to return to Shirahoshi-chan!" _Sanji realized, pulling out the chopsticks. He'd protect the ones he could; the others had to somehow make it on their own.

XXXXX

"There's nothing in here" Franky (boy number 15) said with a sigh as he searched the lab with Iceburg (boy number 17.)

"Ma~, stop being so impatient, Bakanky. We'll find something" the violet haired man said, not looking away from the papers he was reading.

"Stupid Bakaburg; we can't waste any time" Franky muttered, smirking as he found something that might be useful "Hey Bakaburg, come check this out, it looks super!"

When he got no answer Franky turned around, asking again: "Bakaburg?"

"Down here" Iceburg called and Franky noticed that he had crouched down to look under a bookshelf "I found something."

"Super" Franky said "Well, what is it?"

"Just a second" Iceburg said, reaching down under the bookshelf "Aha!"

Iceburg pulled his hand out, holding something white.

"Look what I found"

Franky's eyebrow twisted as he wondered how many screws this game had made loose on Iceburg's head. Clearly pretty many.

"Bakaburg, that's a mouse" Franky told "Not super; it won't help us at all."

Iceburg ignored him, wondering: "What should I call him?"

"How about Bakamouse?" Franky asked, irritated. They had work to do!

"I'm not naming it after you, Bakanky" Iceburg shot back "Ma~, I think I'll call him Tyrannosaurus."

"That's the most stupid name ever" Franky told, face palming "Not super."

"Shut it, Bakanky. What did you want to show me?" Iceburg asked, putting his new friend Tyrannosaurus on the table as Franky handed him a book. Iceburg eyed the book for a moment before saying: "This is written in another language; I can't read this."

"You can't? Damn" Franky said "I thought it might have something useful since it was in a locked drawer."

"We just have to keep looking" Iceburg said "Come here, Tyrannosaurus."

Franky's eyebrow twitched again. That guy was going to drive him crazy...

XXXXX

Chopper (boy number 3) held Kaya's gun tightly, hiding close to the front door. After hearing something from outside he had woken up Kaya (girl number 3) and told her to hide, saying that someone was probably coming.

"_Be someone from our class, be someone from our class" _Chopper pleaded, gritting his teeth. There were lot of scary guys in the third year; he didn't want to face them _"Ace or Franky would be fine, too..."_

He heard steps and saw someone trying the doorknob, but fortunately he had realized to lock it. If they were lucky the guy wouldn't even try to get inside. Chopper sighed in relief as the person walked away, but soon he grew worried again as he heard a door creak.

"_Oh no, the backdoor!" _he realized, silently going towards the other end of the house. At the moment he didn't need to worry about Kaya; to get to her hiding place one would have to get past Chopper when using the backdoor. He waited behind a corner, waiting for the guy to come in sight. He was already pointing the gun at the doorway. He almost pulled the trigger in fright as he heard a crash. It seemed that the guy tripped on something in the dark.

"Ow!"

Chopper froze, he knew this voice; there was no mistaking it.

"Usopp?" he asked slowly, hiding the wrong way behind the wall as he tried to see who it was without being seen himself "Is that you?"

"Chopper?" Usopp (boy number 11) questioned, pointing his flashlight at the younger boy. It really was him!

"Y-yeah" Chopper said, not being able to hold his tears in any longer "I'm glad it was you..."

"What's up with you; crying all of sudden?" Usopp asked with a small laugh despite the fact that tears were already running down his face as well.

"Chopper-san? Are you alright?" Kaya called out, walking in to Usopp's view from behind Chopper. Pointing the flashlight at Usopp she realized: "Usopp-san?"

"Good to see you're both okay" Usopp said, wiping his tears away in a blink of an eye. After recovering from her little shock Kaya started to cry too "Usopp-san!"

"Hey wait; the axe!" Usopp yelled as Kaya ran towards him with Chopper's axe in her hands. She stopped, looking at the weapon before putting it down. If Usopp hadn't stopped her someone might have gotten hurt.

"I'm so glad you're alright" Kaya sobbed as she kneeled next to the man, hugging him.

"Good to see you're okay, too" Usopp said awkwardly "Are you two alone?"

"Y-yeah" Chopper said, feeling that he should tell Usopp about Marco later when Kaya wouldn't hear them "Are you?"

"Yeah" Usopp said "Did I wake you two up?"

"Well I was keeping watch, but Kaya was sleeping" Chopper said with a yawn "Maybe we should talk more in the morning."

"I'll keep watch; you two go to sleep" Kaya decided, surprising the other two.

"But Kaya-"

"You haven't slept at all, right Usopp-san?" Kaya interrupted "And Chopper-san hasn't slept much either; it's better if I'll keep watch first."

Usopp hesitated. He was tired as hell but he didn't want to let Kaya stay up on her own... and yet it still seemed to be the best solution.

"Okay, but wake me up when you get too tired."

XXXXX

Kalifa (girl number 7) broke in to a house in the village, careful to not to be seen. She had been resting in another house in the same village ever since the game started, but now she was on the move to find some food. Sure she'd eaten the bread she had, but it wasn't exactly her idea of a good meal.

"_It seems someone else's here too" _Kalifa thought as she saw a flash of light that disappeared quickly. If it had stayed on someone might just have forgotten it like that, but since it got turned off meant that she wasn't alone _"Let's see if it'll be my first kill or an ally..."_

She walked as silently as she could, clutching her spiked whip in her hands. A gun would've been better; with something like that she wouldn't need to go so close to the people she was about to kill.

"Who's there?" Kalifa smirked; had it been her she wouldn't have given away her location by speaking. Well, this was better for her. She hid behind a corner without response, waiting that the other person, who was definitely a woman, would come out to see if someone was there. When that happened she'd attack, most likely trying to strangle the other woman with her whip.

"_Hopefully she doesn't have a gun..." _Kalifa thought, reminding herself: _"Well, risks are a big part of life."_

After ten minutes of patient waiting Kalifa finally heard steps; whoever the other woman was she was coming closer.

"_Just a little more" _Kalifa thought, careful to not give away her position just yet. Patience was the key to a successful crime, or as Spandam (boy number 2) called it, successful job.

"_Now!" _she thought, wrapping the sharp whip around the other woman's throat. The victim, Conis (girl number 15), dropped her bazooka as she tried to pry the whip away from her throat with both hands. Kalifa was much stronger than the shorter blond and pulled harder, causing the spikes to sink in to Conis' skin, making her scream. Thin trails of blood fell down the younger girl's throat as she struggled with the little power she had left, but it was no use. She let go and Kalifa let her body to fall limp on the floor.

"_And what now? Should I wait for someone else to show up or go hunting?" _Kalifa wondered _"I suppose I let the others kill each other for now and stay in the village. I can just kill the people I come across with."_

XXXXX

"_Good morning, my warriors! How did you sleep?"_ TrafalgarLaw (boy number 12) looked up at the speakers as Doflamingo spoke. He was still on the beach, close to Marigold's body, having decided to leave after the 6 am announcement.

"_For breakfast we have one corpse today; girl number 15: Conis. Now for the forbidden zones: C11 from 10 am. Aren't I being nice; making only one new forbidden zone? Have a nice day!"_

Law marked the forbidden zone down; it was far away. Good.

"_It would probably be safer to go through the woods than the village" _Law realizes, deciding to go to the village in south west. Even though he was calm, he had no idea what he should do once he got to his destination. He wasn't going to, or at least he wasn't planning to go on a killing spree, but he'd kill for self defense. Should he search for a way out of the island? A way to get rid of the collar? If someone had dynamite or something as dangerous as a weapon he could even try to blow up the whole school... yes that would work. He should look for other people from the village.

XXXXX

"So you're really going to go out there on your own?" Vivi asked from Izou, wanting him to change his mind. It wouldn't be safe to go alone.

"Yes I am; I still have to find Marco and Haruta" Izou said stubbornly. He wouldn't let anyone or anything change his mind. Straightening his shirt, he asked: "How about we meet in the village you're heading to in three days? I'll come there even if I can't find them."

"Sounds good" Ace said "Don't fall down; I know you're not used to in wearing pants."

"Don't you die by falling asleep on a forbidden zone" Izou shot back, eyebrow twisting "And at least try to keep your brother from causing trouble."

"I'm not a miracle worker you know" Ace said with a smirk "But I'll do my best."

Izou smirked, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"I'll see you in three days, then" Izou told, leaving the three others on their own. As he disappeared from sight Ace said: "Let's get going."

The three of them walked, carefully keeping an eye on their surroundings. Getting ambushed now wouldn't do.

"Stop" Ace said "I hear something."

"Is someone coming?" Vivi asked fearfully.

"Shh!" Ace hissed, slamming his hand in front of Luffy's mouth as he noticed that his little brother was about to say something. There was no doubt about it, someone was coming. The sound of the steps hadn't changed, but they were getting closer, so whoever it was either hadn't noticed them yet or wasn't afraid for some other reason. He hoped it was the first.

"Isn't that-"Vivi whispered quietly as the person came to view, but was cut off by Luffy who had removed Ace's hand from his face: "Nami!"

Indeed it was her, the orange haired girl from the first year, Nami (girl number 12.) She was holding a small weapon and none of the three others were sure what it was, but at least it wasn't a gun.

"I'm glad to see you're alright" Vivi said, taking a few steps towards her friend, but stopped when she saw her backing away "Nami?"

Ace narrowed his eyes; something wasn't right here. Nami looked like she was afraid of them... was it just because of the game or had she already seen something that prevented her from thinking straight? Well, it would be weird if someone did think completely straight in this situation... in fact they, or at least he and Izou, were weird just like that. Luffy was just too stupid to realize the seriousness of the situation.

"It's good to see you Nami!" Luffy called out, obvious to the fact that something was wrong, that Nami wasn't really so clad to see them "Have you seen anyone else?"

"Luffy, I think there's something wrong with her" Ace whispered, not taking his eyes off of the girl.

"Huh?" Luffy said, looking at Ace before turning his attention back to Nami "Nami, are you okay?"

When he didn't get an answer Luffy started to walk towards Nami, who was rooted to the spot. Ace wanted to stop his brother but decided not to. The kid was good with people; he might be able to calm Nami down. When Luffy got close enough to touch her Nami suddenly panicked, activating her weapon, a stun gun. Time seemed to slow down for Ace as he saw his little brother being zapped with it.

One day, 7 hours and 15 minutes of the game gone

47 students remaining

**A.N: Because everyone loves cliffhangers, no? ;D**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: A Flicker of Hope**

"Luffy!" Ace (boy number 8) yelled, running over to his brother with Vivi (girl number 8) as he fell to the ground.

"Luffy? Luffy, are you okay? Say something!" Ace yelled, staring to panic. He couldn't lose his brother, he just couldn't!

"Ow..." Luffy (boy number 7) whined as he regained consciousness. Nami's (girl number 12) stun gun had hit him in the arm and left a burn, but the contact had only lasted a few seconds and the power on it hadn't been big. Luffy had survived with just a little shock, no pun intended.

"You okay Luffy?" Ace asked, relief washing over him. His brother was a tough one alright.

"Yeah" Luffy said, holding his head "What about Nami?"

"She ran away" Vivi said, staring at the direction Nami had gone to.

"What was wrong with her?" Luffy asked. Ace could tell from his face that he was more confused than hurt, but he'd become even more confused and hurt as the game went on. Especially the later.

"She must have seen something terrible" Ace said, gritting his teeth "Seen or experienced."

"But she didn't look wounded" Vivi said uncertainty clear in her voice "Or did she?"

"No, she didn't, but she might have been attacked at some point" Ace said "We must be more careful from now on, got it guys?"

"Y-yes" Vivi said, biting her lip. Was this how it was really going to be? Friends doubting and fearing each other?

"Got it, Luffy?" Ace asked again since his brother didn't answer the first time.

"...yeah"

"Good" Ace said "Now show me your arm."

XXXXX

"Is Kaya still sleeping?" Usopp (boy number 11) asked from Chopper (boy number 3.)

"Yeah" Chopper said, sitting next to Usopp on the floor, under the window. Sitting around the table would've been stupid; someone might see them from the window.

"...Chopper?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?" Usopp asked. Chopper glanced at him, his serious tone catching the younger boy off guard.

"Sure" he said.

"Have you and Kaya seen anyone else?" the long nose asked. Chopper was about to say no, but then he remembered Marco.

"Yeah..." Chopper said, gulping "We saw Marco, that friend of Ace's."

It took a moment for Usopp before Chopper's words reached his understanding. He had seen Marco (boy number 24) not long ago and he'd been shot; he was sure since he was the one to take the bullet out. Marco had even said that Kaya (girl number 3) had shot him, but Usopp didn't believe him. Could it be true after all?

"Was he okay when you saw him?"

"Yeah... b-but-"

"Kaya shot at him, didn't she?" Usopp cut off the younger boy, who clenched his fists.

"Yeah" Chopper told after a while "I-I didn't see it coming; she shot so fast. I'm pretty sure Marco got hit but... but... I just couldn't follow him!"

Usopp looked at his crying friend; he was afraid that he'd say something like that, but hearing it was still a shock. However, it was not the right time to be upset, especially not for him. He might be weak and a coward, but he'd do whatever he could to protect his friends.

"It's not your fault; you did your best" Usopp tried to comfort him, deciding not to tell him about the state Marco had been in "You've been able to protect Kaya, and that's enough since the great Usopp-sama is here now!"

Chopper smiled slightly. Despite what everyone always thought, he wasn't just a little kid. He did enjoy Usopp's stories about his great adventures, but even he knew they weren't true. He just liked to play along but still, it was reassuring to have Usopp with them.

"Y-yeah" the younger boy said with a small smile. Everything would be okay.

XXXXX

"_That was too close!" _Sabo (boy number 19) thought as he sat down, finally allowing himself to get some rest. He had gotten out of C6, the forbidden zone, just in time and gone to C5 and to B5 where he was now. Sabo sighed, taking a look at his watch. It said 8:48 am; a little over three hours to the next announcement.

"_I suppose I can take a nap... and hope that I won't be killed in my sleep" _Sabo thought. It was worth the risk since he knew that if he didn't get any sleep soon he'd be too tired to fight or even think clearly if attacked. That wouldn't be good. Before he drifted to sleep he thought of certain someone he was looking for, remembering how he'd met her.

_Flashback:_

_Sabo hummed to himself, making his way to the school's library. It was his third day in high school and now he finally had time to get a better look at the book collection in the school. His good mood was ruined pretty fast tough as he heard arguing from the library; people aren't supposed to be loud there._

"And I'd rather not beat anyone up at the very beginning of the high school" _Sabo thought with a sigh, deciding to check the situation. If he was lucky they'd shut up or find some other place to argue. However, his plans changed when he saw what all the noise was about._

"_I can't believe someone actually reads this crap" said a young man with long black hair, going through a book before showing it to the three other guys behind him._

"_I _said _give it back" hissed a black haired girl Sabo didn't notice earlier. She wasn't exactly yelling, but she was still loud. Sabo was on her side tough; he wasn't a knight in the shining armor but four guys bothering one girl was just too unfair._

"_Or you'll do what?" the guy asked with a chuckle. The girl narrowed her eyes at him, clenching her fists._

"_Last warning, Arlong" she hissed. Sabo could tell from the look in her ice blue eyes that she was about to snap. Arlong just snorted, saying: "Show me what you can do, bitch!"_

_It seemed to be the last straw as the girl took Arlong's arm in a tight grip. Before the tall man could react she pulled at his arm, dislocating it in the process._

"Ouch, better not get myself on her bad side" _Sabo thought with a light chuckle. Arlong deserved that._

"_You bitch!" Arlong yelled, but the woman didn't even flinch. As he prepared to bring his fist down to her face an ear piercing yell ran through the library: "Arlong!"_

_Sabo actually recognized the girl who had yelled. Her name was Shirley (girl number 16) and she was in the same class with him._

"_I've told you guys to leave her alone!" she spat, walking over to Arlong and the others._

"_And who are you to order us around?" Arlong asked, glaring at her. They held a glaring contest for a while before Arlong gave in, saying: "Whatever. Let's go, guys."_

_Shirley left with the other four, leaving the raven haired girl alone. As Sabo returned his attention to her he noticed small trails of blood in her hands._

"Is that her blood? Or someone else's?" _Sabo wondered, taking a few steps forward to get a closer look. That was not so good idea as the girl finally realized he was there. The glare he got from her was something he'd never forget. Those piercing, ice blue eyes staring straight at his own, making him feel like he'd be dead with one wrong move. However, Sabo had always loved challenges and that creepy, dangerous look on her beautiful face didn't get him to back down._

"_Are you okay?" he asked, walking over to her. He got no answer, excluding the way how the raven haired girl narrowed her eyes at him. As he tried to reach out to her to touch her shoulder, something seemed to come alive in the statue like woman. She swung her hand towards Sabo's face, leaving a nice red print on it. Their eyes met again and Sabo could tell she was angry, but there was something else, too._

_Something that he still hasn't been able to place._

_Flashback_

"_She hasn't really chanced" _Sabo thought _"But that doesn't change the fact that I must find her."_

XXXXX

Perona (girl number 24) was hiding behind a warehouse, holding her gun tightly. She had seen it quite a while ago; the way Kalifa (girl number 7) killed Conis (girl number 15.) It had been early in the morning and she was watching it through the window, but Perona saw everything clearly enough to tell who did what, especially since she saw quite well in the dark. She was still in the same village, but had gotten away from the house where Conis' body lay. She didn't want to be seen by Kalifa.

"_How did I end up in a mess like this?" _Perona wondered. She wasn't the nicest girl in school or anything, but she didn't deserve anything like this _"And where's that stupid, ugly swordsman when I actually need him for once?"_

Stupid, ugly swordsman, better known as Roronoa Zoro (boy number 18) had always had the habit of appearing out of nowhere, especially when Perona wanted to be alone, so why now that she actually needed the guy he was nowhere to be seen? It's not like she liked him or anything, but she knew that he was strong and despite his bad attitude towards her and people in general he had a good heart and that he'd protect those who asked for it, even if he would complain about it.

"_Why am I thinking about him at a time like this? He's not even cute!" _Perona thought with a sigh. This game was making her in to a fool. Well, maybe not just the game; she'd been spending too much time with that green haired idiot which caused her to start becoming an idiot, too. Yeah, that was probably it. Suddenly Perona heard a crack behind her. Gathering her courage she spun around, pointing the gun at the person who had given away her presence by stepping on a dry branch. It was Monet (girl number 22), a mysterious young woman from the third year.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Monet asked silently with a small, cold smile. It didn't reach her eyes, but then again her smiles never did.

"Like I'd get scared" Perona lied, which wasn't hard to tell since she was slowly backing away from the older woman's reach.

"You don't need to be afraid of me" Monet tried to convince her, moving her green hair away from her face "I have no intention of playing this game."

"W-well then you can just go away!" Perona said, trying to act tough, but with bad results. She pointed the gun at Monet, but she didn't seem faced at all.

"Killing me wouldn't do you any good" Monet tried to reason, walking towards Perona "We'd be safer together."

"Don't come any closer" Perona said, tightening her grip "Show me your weapon."

"I can't" Monet said "I was getting water from the nearby well and dropped it in there by accident."

For some reason Perona couldn't help but laugh at that. Just how stupid was this woman? She could imagine Zoro doing something like this, but Monet? As far as Perona knew the green haired woman was an A student.

"You probably shouldn't be so loud" Monet said, making Perona cover her mouth, mumbling afterwards: "I knew that."

"Could you help me to get my weapon?" Monet asked. Perona was about to say no, after all she had no reason to help her, but then she thought again. She had only seen Kalifa and Monet after the game started and the first was out of question, so why not? If they moved together they'd have a bigger chance of surviving, unless they killed each other, of course. Perona had no intention to play, but she still wasn't sure about Monet.

"What's your weapon?" Perona asked.

"A pocket knife" Monet answered, causing Perona to decide to help her. She had a gun; she'd win against a pocket knife.

"Okay, I'll help" Perona said, adding: "But don't even think that I'd let you hold the gun."

"Of course not" Monet said "This way."

They went forward slowly, stopping at every corner, checking their surroundings. Being seen was out of question.

"We're here" Monet said as she saw the well. She walked there cautiously, signaling for Perona to come too after she had confirmed no one was around.

"How did you plan to get it from the well?" the pink haired girl asked.

"I was planning on using this" Monet said, untying the bucket that was used for getting water from the rope "I'll tie it on to the pillar and climb in to the well with it."

Perona crossed her arms in anger, asking: "If you have everything planned what do you need me for?"

"I need you to keep watch so no one cuts the rope" Monet said "Please?"

"Fine, but you owe me one!" Perona said. Monet smiled slightly, saying: "Of course."

Monet tied the rope, carefully landing in to the well with it. After a while she started to climb back up skillfully, her leg almost slipping only once. However, when she got to the edge she called out to Perona: "Could you pull me up?"

"Geez, you're so bothersome" Perona muttered, but decided to help her anyway. Putting her gun on the ground she took Monet's outstretched hand in hers, pulling her up. When the older girl was up, she didn't let go right away.

"What?"

"Goodbye"

"Huh?" Perona said right before Monet pulled her arm to get her closer, pushing her in to the well. After hearing the splash Monet said: "Can't believe you fell for it."

She took the gun from the ground, planning to finish the pink haired girl, but that was unnecessary since she had hit her head when she fell.

"Oh well, that works too" Monet said with a shrug, a cruel smirk forming on her lips "I will obey your orders, Doflamingo-sama."

XXXXX

Nami panted, dropping on to her knees. She had arrived to another forest, G6 zone, and was dead tired. She wasn't exactly sure where she was, having been running around blindly for whew hours. She wouldn't be surprised when she'd find out she'd ran in circles at one point.

"_Thank god, I got away!" _she thought, looking behind her. She'd seen Ace earlier, standing close to Domino's(girl number 27) body. Had she not seen it with her own eyes she wouldn't have believed it, but it was true.

Portgas D. Ace was a killer.

"_And Luffy too... I saw the blood on his face and it definitely wasn't his!" _Nami thought. She couldn't believe that someone like Luffy would be capable of killing, but it seemed that was the case _"Sure, he fights a lot with the others, but they usually start it."_

Nami was in so bad shock that she didn't even consider the possibility that the blood on Luffy's face could have come from self defense.

"_Wait; Vivi was with them, too!" _Nami realized. Her first thought was to go back right away and help her, but then she hesitated. She wouldn't be able to hold her own against Ace or Luffy, not to mention both of them. Vivi had to survive on her own for now.

"_I have to find Kohza... and Nojiko! Them I can trust no matter what!" _Nami decided. There was no way her sister or boyfriend was playing. Smiling a little she left to search for the said two.

XXXXX

"Tyrannosaurus? Where'd you go?" Iceburg (boy number 17) called out, looking for his little friend. Franky (boy number 15) sighed in frustration, yelling: "Just forget that stupid rat of yours will you!? We have more important things to take care of here!"

"Be quiet Bakanky!" Iceburg hissed "Ma~ we don't want to be heard."

"And yet you're calling out so loudly for that not super at all mouse of yours..." Franky muttered, ditching yet another box that had nothing useful in it. Almost a day and half had passed of their limited time of one week, and they hadn't really done or found anything useful "At this rate we'll all die because our time ends."

"Ma~, it's not like you to be so pessimistic, Bakanky" Iceburg said, still looking for his new little friend "Withdrawal effects from cola?"

Franky rolled his eyes, not wanting to admit that the same thought had come to his mind. But was that even possible? Well, he might suffer of them from the lack of caffeine...

"Finally!"

"Did you find something?" Franky asked, turning his head to the direction Iceburg's voice was heard from.

"Yes, Tyrannosaurus finally came out of hiding" Iceburg said, making Franky pull his hair in frustration "Bakanky-"

"One none super word, even one, of that stupid mouse of yours and I'll start considering actually playing this game!" Franky snapped. Usually he liked small animals and was surprised about how that one little mouse could get him on the edge like this.

"Ma~, don't be such a kid; look what he found" Franky hesitated. That rat was starting to get on his nerves; at some point he might snap its neck, but since he still had some patience right now he decided to do as Iceburg said.

"Look at this" Iceburg said as Franky came to stand next to him, pulling out a box of dynamite "You did great job, Tyrannosaurus."

"Why do you insist on saying the mouse found it?" Franky asked, but Iceburg ignored him "But this might be useful."

"Yes, if we find a way to get these close enough the school and light them up..."

"...it should at least destroy the computer system and make the collars ineffective, which will make the forbidden zones meaningless."

"Ma~, that's right" Iceburg agreed "Now we'll just have to figure out how to get dynamite there without us blowing up."

"Yeah, and we might need some help" Franky said "It'd be good if some of our friends found their way here."

"Let's hope so"

XXXXX

"Sa-sanji-sama, it's almost 12..." Shirahoshi (girl number 11) said, fishing out her map.

"I know, Shirahoshi-chan" Sanji (boy number 28) said. He had bandaged his arm as well as he could after Bonney's (girl number 21) attack, but it did still hurt.

"_Afternoon, my warriors" _came Doflamingo's voice, making Sanji grit his teeth _"How are you today?"_

"We'd be way better without your shitty announcements..." Sanji muttered.

"_Only one person dead this time too; why do you all have to be so lazy?" _Doflamingo questioned. To most people he sounded amused, but those who were good at recognizing different tones knew he was closer to angry than amused _"The dead one is girl number 24, Perona. As for the forbidden zones: A8 from 2 pm and D11 from 5 pm. Have a nice day!"_

Sanji and Shirahoshi wrote down the forbidden zones, sighing in relief. Their zone was safe for now.

"We should probably go looking for others now, Shirahoshi-chan" Sanji said. They hadn't moved around much so that they could save their strength and see how fast people died in order to find out if anyone was playing. Judging from the number of bodies Sanji knew that there had to be at least two killers on the loose, possibly more if some of those who were playing moved in groups.

"Y-yes" Shirahoshi said, getting up. As they walked towards east she watched Sanji's back, wondering why she hadn't ever really talked with the guy even when they were in the same class. She was pretty close with his friends Nami and Luffy, but she didn't recall ever having an actual conversation with this man before the game, making her also wonder why he helped her.

"_Nami-sama did always say that he helps every woman he sees in the need for help" _Shirahoshi remembered. Their green haired friend, Zoro if she remembered correctly, had told her to keep her eyes open when around Sanji, but Luffy had immediately said that Zoro was joking and Sanji was a good guy. She was quite sure Luffy was right about that.

XXXXX

Doflamingo sipped his drink with a slight grin, looking at the list of the players. He always loved to predict who'd die soon and which ones would be in the final.

"Let's see... those three in H13 won't last long; that's for sure" Doflamingo said "Boy number 13 and 14 on the other hand are doing great; another one of them might win."

"Shurororo... that's very possible, but let's not forget the captain of the kendo club or the eldest member of the science club." said Ceasar Clone, a pale scientist who had created the collars.

"But they haven't killed anyone yet" pointed out Vergo, a tall man with sunglasses as he sipped his tea. The other two turned to look at him and Ceasar asked: "And who do _you_ think will win?"

Vergo didn't answer, just took a picture from the table, holding it out for the other two to see.

"Her?" Doflamingo asked with a laugh "She hasn't killed anyone yet either, you know."

"Do you even realize who she is?" Vergo asked. Doflamingo frowned, saying: "Do share the information that you have."

Vergo's words brought a wide grin on Doflamingo's face. This year's game was going to be fun.

One day, 12 hours and 16 minutes of the game gone

46 students remaining


End file.
